Former Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, who once helped Xi Jinping in his anti-corruption campaign, has recently captured public attention. Following the heavy sentencing of three of his former associates, Wang was recently reported to be under house arrest. Analysts believe that Wang Qishan is facing unprecedented pressure, with his status as the second-generation of the National People’s Congress also drawing scrutiny.
On October 12, the alleged Chinese Communist Party’s major external propaganda “Hong Kong He Tong Society” revealed that Wang Qishan was “confined to his residence outside the East Gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing on the night of the 7th,” and claimed that Wang had amassed wealth amounting to tens of billions.
While the “He Tong Society” website appears to be of crude production and irregular, it has previously exclusively revealed information on Xi Jinping’s military secretariat chief Zhong Shaojun’s appointment to the political commissar of the National Defense University and was the first to report the official ban on the shooting of the head of the Shaoyang Public Security Bureau on October 1. This indicates that the core figures behind the website likely have connections in the political center of Beijing.
According to commentary published on October 20 by Taiwan’s “Shang Bao,” the details of the revelations about Wang Qishan were exaggeratedly sensational. The fact that such information could be disseminated on a Chinese Communist Party external propaganda website and has not been deleted to this day is highly unusual. The core figure of the website is believed to be an “advisor” named Liu Haofeng, a native of Hunan, possibly with support from a faction within Xi’s circle, such as the propaganda head Cai Qi or the current head of the anti-corruption campaign, Li Xi. The disclosure of such details corresponds to Wang Qishan’s current precarious situation.
Further online searches by Epoch Times reporters found that on the afternoon of October 5 last year, Liu Haofeng attended an event marking the 2574th anniversary of Confucius’ birth in Shenzhen as the president and editor-in-chief of He Tong Society’s “Asian News Weekly,” “Asian Economic Monthly,” “Asian Art Guide,” and “Asian Figures Guide” as well as the deputy president of the New York International Communication Agency and the United States World Chinese Magazine headquarters.
Wang Qishan, known as Xi Jinping’s “tiger hunting” lieutenant during Xi’s first term, withdrew from the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 2017 during the 19th Party Congress, took on the role of Vice President of the country the following year, and retired in March 2023.
Several of Wang Qishan’s former associates have fallen from grace in recent years. This includes Fan Yifei, the chief financial officer under Wang when he led the China Construction Bank, who was sentenced to death with a reprieve on October 10 this year for embezzlement of nearly 400 million RMB; Tian Huiyu, Wang’s former secretary and former president of China Merchants Bank, was sentenced to death with reprieve for embezzling 500 million RMB; and Dong Hong, another former secretary of Wang and former deputy director of the Central Inspection Team, was sentenced to death with reprieve for embezzling 460 million RMB. Additionally, Wang’s close friend and fellow second-generation red capitalist Ren Zhiqiang was sentenced to 18 years on corruption charges for criticizing Xi Jinping.
At this year’s national day banquet, Wang Qishan appeared with barely a smile. While most of the senior officials were applauding upon entrance, Wang Qishan did not. It appeared that a burly figure was monitoring him from behind.
In this context, Wang Qishan being targeted with negative revelations aligns with the notion that he is facing unprecedented pressure, and the rumors of his “house arrest” are not baseless.
Wang Qishan had become a prominent figure in Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption, targeting high-profile figures such as Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, and Zhou Yongkang, and even confronting the widely perceived most corrupt figures Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong. However, eventually, all hostilities ceased. It is believed that Xi made deals with Jiang and Zeng in exchange for preserving the party and his own position.
Political commentator Chen Pokong analyzed in a show on New Tang Dynasty TV that during Xi’s first term, Wang and Xi were allies. However, in the second term, disagreements on issues like Hong Kong and the China-US negotiations gradually led Wang Qishan to become Xi’s adversary. With Xi’s growing dissatisfaction and lack of support from Wang, tensions between them may lead to consequences during Xi’s potential reelection. Despite Wang’s aides and associates facing harsh punishments one after another, signaling retaliatory action from Xi, it does not necessarily mean Wang will be arrested, as there are doubts about anyone daring to go after Wang at this moment.
Producer Li Jun on an elite forum indicated that there were many within the system who feared Wang Qishan, but more who resented him. If he is now being targeted, it is not a surprise but rather expected.
Guo Jun, the Editor-in-Chief of Epoch Times, mentioned in the elite forum that she believes Wang Qishan has been abandoned by Xi. Using his adept political tactics, Wang may not openly express discontent, but operates politically through fear. As long as Xi fears Wang’s potential negative impact, suspicions could lead to trouble for Wang.
The aforementioned article by Du Zheng also noted that Wang Qishan comes from a background that the Chinese Communist Party disapproves of—being the son of a Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) “reactionary” military officer who was targeted after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.
Wang Qishan, born on July 19, 1948, in Qingdao, Shandong, had a father, Wang Dezheng, born in 1907. During the Japanese War, Wang Dezheng served as a captain in the Nationalist Party and received a salary. After the Communist Party took over Qingdao in 1946, Wang Dezheng was retained by the CCP.
During the early 1950s, amid the Communist Party’s “campaign to suppress its friends,” Wang Dezheng, due to his background as a Nationalist Party officer, was targeted. During the Cultural Revolution, he faced further criticism and struggles.
Wang Qishan later rose in prominence due to his relationship and marriage with the daughter of Yao Yilin, a senior member of the CCP and former Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council.
The article by Du Zheng suggests that Wang Qishan transformed from the son of a Nationalist Party officer with whom the CCP had family grudges into a prominent figure in the Chinese Communist Party.
In a recent statement, Republic of China (Taiwan) President Lai Ching-te raised the concept of the “ancestral country.” Lai pointed out the 75-year age gap between the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) and emphasized that the People’s Republic of China could never be the ancestral homeland of the people of the Republic of China, but rather the Republic of China could be considered the ancestral homeland of those Chinese people over 75 years old within the People’s Republic of China. This suggests that individuals existing before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 are regarded as citizens of the Republic of China.
Du Zheng believes that Wang Qishan, as a survivor from one of the categories of Nationalist Party remnants across various movements in the Chinese Communist Party’s history, fits this description. However, the current pressures he faces are unrelated to his background as the son of a Nationalist Party military officer; rather, it is just part of the brutal factional struggles within the Chinese Communist Party.