Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region government chairman Lan Tianli has been officially removed from office, with his wife Wei Xiaoyan also being arrested simultaneously. The local authorities have started a campaign to erase Lan’s presence, with his information being removed from the official government website. Lan Tianli, a minority official, became the second provincial-level official to be investigated since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He has connections with other officials who have also fallen from grace, such as “tigers” Tang Renjian and Jin Xiangjun.
On May 16, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Lan Tianli, vice secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee and chairman of the regional government, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law”.
Reports from Caixin on that day revealed that news of Lan Tianli’s investigation had already spread on May 12. His wife was also under investigation.
Lan Tianli’s wife, Wei Xiaoyan, previously served as a member of the Communist Party Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department at Guangxi Medical University. She is one year younger than Lan Tianli and they both hail from Yishan County in Hechi.
According to media reports, from May 10 to 11, Lan Tianli was conducting research in three cities: Hechi, Baise, and Chongzuo. His last public appearance was on the evening of May 11.
In the days leading up to his removal, Hong Kong media had reported that Lan Tianli was absent from two important events on May 12, including a meeting of the Autonomous Region Party Committee Standing Committee. Lan Tianli was taken away in Nanning on May 12, and news of his detention had already circulated locally. It was rumored that his brother and other relatives were also being investigated.
Reports suggest that Lan Tianli has been active in Guangxi’s political scene for over 30 years, and his downfall is expected to implicate a large number of officials.
After Lan Tianli’s removal, Guangxi began a process of “de-Lanification”. His information has been removed from the official government website in the autonomous region.
Images of Lan Tianli on the walls of government offices in Guangxi were reportedly being taken down by government personnel and circulated widely on the internet.
Lan Tianli was once considered an elite member of the Zhuang minority cultivated by the Communist Party. He rose through the ranks, becoming vice chairman of the regional government at the age of 49 in 2011, reaching vice-provincial level. In April 2015, he was promoted to a member of the Guangxi Party Committee Standing Committee. In 2016, he became vice chairman of the autonomous region, filling a vacancy left by Tang Renjian who had moved to head the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Office. In late 2018, he was appointed chairman of the Autonomous Region People’s Political Consultative Conference, reaching provincial level. He was appointed chairman of the regional government at the end of 2020, only to face investigation now.
Within the Guangxi Party Committee and government leadership, Lan Tianli and Tang Renjian had worked together for about two years since 2014. Tang Renjian was investigated last May while serving as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and in April this year he was prosecuted on charges of bribery.
Lan Tianli also held positions as an alternate member of the 18th and 19th Central Committees of the Communist Party, becoming a full member at the 20th Congress.
Lan Tianli is the 21st senior official under central management to be publicly investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission this year. He is the 16th senior provincial-level “tiger” to be investigated since the 20th Congress of the Communist Party.
Following Jin Xiangjun, former Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and Governor, who was reported to be under investigation on April 12, Lan Tianli is the second provincial-level government “top leader” to be officially investigated within a month.
Jin Xiangjun served in Guangxi Autonomous Region for a total of 20 years from 1998 to 2018. Reports suggest that one of the reasons for Jin Xiangjun’s downfall may have been a violation of a “major political taboo”.
Anti-communist activist Yin Ke, also known as Jiang Wangzheng, revealed on his self-media program that Lan Tianli’s investigation is related to the Jin Xiangjun case.
Following Lan Tianli’s investigation, senior officials such as Xu Yongguo, Executive Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region, and Zhong Dezhi, Secretary-General of the government, have appeared on Guangxi TV to express support for the decision to investigate Lan Tianli. They stated that the goal is to minimize the impact of Lan Tianli’s case on the government’s operations and economic development.
Before Lan Tianli, between May 9 and 14 this year, four other officials in Guangxi were also investigated, including Qinzhou City Committee Standing Committee and Deputy Mayor Zhong Hengqin, Li Wenbo, Deputy Secretary of the Autonomous Region Party Committee’s Politics and Law Committee, Wei Yan, Secretary-General of the Wuzhou City Committee, and Pan Liaoting, Deputy General Manager of the Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group.