On March 7, 2026, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping attended a meeting with the military delegation, where Wang Xiaohong, a close ally of Xi and the Minister of Public Security, made a rare appearance. In the past two years, Wang Xiaohong had not attended the full military delegation meetings. According to reports from the Chinese state party media Xinhua News Agency, on the afternoon of March 7, 2026, Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Military Commission, attended the full military delegation meeting of the 14th National People’s Congress and delivered a speech. Vice Chairman of the Military Commission Zhang Shengmin also participated in the meeting.
Footage from Chinese Central Television (CCTV) showed Wang Xiaohong, Secretary of the Central Committee, State Councillor, and Minister of Public Security, present at the full military delegation meeting while giving a close-up shot of Wang Xiaohong for nearly three seconds. However, the written report from Xinhua News Agency and the CCTV broadcast did not mention the name of Vice-Ministerial-level official Wang Xiaohong as usual.
On March 7, 2026, in addition to Wang Xiaohong, five other leaders from various State Council departments attended the full military delegation meeting, including Zhuang Rongwen, Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education, Shan Zhongde, Director of the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense, Pei Jinjia, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security.
CCTV reports from previous years showed that after the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the full military delegation meeting held on March 8, 2023, did not see leaders from State Council departments in attendance. Subsequent full military delegation meetings in 2024 and 2025 saw several leaders from State Council departments present, but Wang Xiaohong had not attended in the past two years.
Wang Xiaohong is a former colleague and close associate of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping from Fujian. Xi Jinping worked in Fujian for seventeen years, from 1985 to 2002. During Xi’s tenure as Secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee, Wang Xiaohong served as Deputy Director of the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau. It is said that Wang Xiaohong was responsible for Xi Jinping’s security at that time, making him quite familiar with Xi’s family. There were reports that Wang Xiaohong lived downstairs from Xi Jinping, and during Xi Jinping’s business trips, his daughter was often sent to stay at Wang Xiaohong’s home.
After Xi Jinping came to power at the 18th National Congress, Wang Xiaohong quickly rose through the ranks. He was successively promoted to Vice Governor of Henan Province, Director of the Public Security Department, Deputy Mayor of Beijing, Director of the Public Security Bureau, Deputy Minister, Executive Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, concurrently serving as Director of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. In 2021, he became the Party Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security, and in June 2022, he was promoted to Minister of Public Security and Vice Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. Subsequently, after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in October 2022, he was appointed as Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee and State Councillor, rising to the Vice-Ministerial level.
On January 20, 2026, Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, a member of the Military Commission, were noticeably absent from the opening ceremony of a special seminar for provincial and ministerial-level officials. Subsequently, rumors began circulating about the two individuals being in trouble and being arrested. On January 24, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were officially announced to have been removed from their positions.
Around that time, various versions of insider details about the arrest of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli emerged, implicating the Military Discipline Commission, the Discipline Inspection Commission, the Central Security Bureau, and the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. Several versions mentioned the involvement of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security in the arrest operation.
The Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security is responsible for the security of Vice-Ministerial-level officials, including Vice Chairmen of the National People’s Congress, Vice Premiers, State Councillors, Vice Chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Presidents of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, as well as foreign dignitaries visiting China.
Just before the opening ceremony of the special seminar for provincial and ministerial-level officials where Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were absent, there was a change in leadership in the Political Commissar of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.
On January 18, 2026, the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress appointed Yu Ping as the Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department. The Shaanxi Provincial Government also appointed Yu Ping as the Inspector General of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department.
Prior to his appointment as the Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, Yu Ping served as the Political Commissar of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, working alongside three former heads of the Special Security Bureau, including Wang Xiaohong, Wang Zhizhong, and Ling Zhifeng.
Since Yu Ping’s transfer to the Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, the new Political Commissar of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security has not been publicly announced.