38 mid-level officials of the Communist Party have been investigated this year, including 7 at ministerial level.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities continue to be shaken by a wave of officials falling from grace. According to announcements from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CCP Central Committee and the National Supervisory Commission, a total of 38 mid- to high-level officials have been investigated this year, including 7 at the ministerial level.

On July 29, Li Weiwei, Vice Chairman of the Population Resources and Environment Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), came under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. Li is the 38th mid- to high-level official investigated this year and the 7th ministerial-level official.

Li Weiwei had long served in Hunan province. In 2006, he became a member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department. After working in this position for 11 years, he was transferred to the position of Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial Party Committee in 2015. In 2016, Li Weiwei was appointed Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC. In January 2023, he stepped down as Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC and later became the Vice Chairman of the Population Resources and Environment Committee of the CPPCC. Li Weiwei once proclaimed, “We must dare to break through vested interests and be brave enough to reform ourselves.”

Apart from Li Weiwei, 6 other senior officials of the CCP at the ministerial level have been investigated this year.

On July 25, the CCDI and the National Supervisory Commission announced on their website that Luo Baoming, Vice Chairman of the Thirteenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), for Overseas Chinese Affairs, voluntarily surrendered himself for investigation for alleged serious violations of discipline and law.

The other five officials are: Li Yuefeng, Executive Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic League in March; Tang Yijun, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC in April; Tang Renjian, Secretary of the Party Committee and Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Gu Zhongwen, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC in May, and Wu Yingjie, a member of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC and Director of the Cultural History and Learning Committee, who were all investigated in June.

Tang Yijun had previously served as Deputy Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, Governor of Liaoning Province, and Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Tang Renjian had held positions such as Executive Vice Chairman of Guangxi, Governor of Gansu Province, Member of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, and Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Luo Baoming, who fell from grace on July 25, had previously served in Tianjin. In 2001, he was transferred to Hainan Province as Deputy Secretary and Governor, and in 2011, he became Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee.

Luo Baoming was considered a confidant and close ally of the late former CCP leader Jiang Zemin. In 2015, Jiang Zemin and his family had reportedly visited the eastern hills of Hainan with Luo Baoming, which was seen as a signal of a potential comeback, challenging Xi Jinping. Major Chinese news portals had initially reported on this event but later all related reports were deleted.

Regarding Luo Baoming’s voluntary surrender, Wang Juntao, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Democratic Party, stated in an interview with a reporter from Epoch Times on July 27 that, given the ongoing “retrospective review” by the CCP leader Xi Jinping’s government, Luo Baoming realized he had nowhere to escape. Provincial Party Secretaries of the CCP usually represent factions such as the elderly families of the CCP or the Jiang Zemin faction, the Tuju faction, etc., but since Xi Jinping took office, the influence of these factions has greatly diminished.