After the end of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in China, four officials from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs were investigated intensively from March 13 to March 21, 2026, within a span of nine days. Over ten officials from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs had fallen from grace in 2025.
In late January 2026, Sun Shaocheng, the first Minister of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was investigated. His former deputy, Cao Jun, was dismissed and transferred to Qinghai. In August 2025, Yang Youbin, a Major General in the CCP and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, was dismissed with unknown whereabouts. Amid the upheaval in the CCP’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs, high-ranking military officials transitioning from active duty were also investigated.
On March 19, 2026, the Beijing Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission announced that Li Zhengyi, the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Shunyi District Bureau of Veterans Affairs in Beijing, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
Public records show that Li Zhengyi, born in April 1968 in Beijing Shunyi, previously served as the Deputy Director of the Shunyi District Municipal Administration Commission, Deputy Director of the District Security Supervision Bureau, member of the District Government Office Party Committee, and Director of the District Emergency Response Office. He has been the Director of the Shunyi District Bureau of Veterans Affairs since March 2019.
On March 20, 2026, the Lanzhou Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission in Gansu Province reported that Yang Wenjun, a Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Lanzhou City, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
Public records indicate that Yang Wenjun, born in March 1967 in Yuzhong, Gansu Province, previously served in various roles such as Deputy Director of the Lanzhou City Urban Management Bureau, Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, and Director of the Retired Cadre Placement Office for the Military in Lanzhou City. Since February 2019, he has been a Party Committee member and Deputy Director (county-level) of the Lanzhou City Veterans Affairs Bureau.
On March 21, 2026, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Dazhou City in Sichuan Province announced that Liu Yuping, the Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau of Xuanhan County in Dazhou City, was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office.
Liu Yuping fell from grace on December 2, 2025, while serving in his position. A member of the Tujia ethnic group, Liu Yuping was born in April 1974 in Xuanhan, Sichuan. He previously served as the Party Secretary and Director of the Rural Revitalization Bureau in Xuanhan County before becoming the Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in 2024.
Furthermore, on March 13, 2026, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Anhui Province reported that Yin Chun, the Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Dangtu County, was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office.
Yin Chun fell from grace on September 19, 2025, but details about his age and career history are not available.
On December 10, 2025, Ma Lifang, a Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Department in Ningxia Autonomous Region, was reported to have fallen from grace while in office. Ma Lifang, a Hui woman born in December 1970 in Qingtongxia, Ningxia, has been serving as a Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Department in Ningxia Autonomous Region for nearly six years.
Public reports indicate that in 2025, over ten other officials from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs were also investigated, including Zhou Jinai, Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province; Zhan Mingjun, Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Shennongjia Forestry District, Hubei Province; Huang Changfa, Second-level Chief Officer of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province; Tang Hongliang, former Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Guangchang County, Jiangxi Province; Shen Suqing, Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province; Wu Zongyan, Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province; Li Changguang, Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Longquanyi District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province; Zhu Xianqi, First-level Chief Officer of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Dantu District, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province; Dou Liqun, Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Lixian County, Longnan City, Gansu Province; Yan Xuewu, Party Secretary and Director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Shapotou District, Zhongwei City, Ningxia; and Sun Xiaoyu, Party Committee member, Deputy Director, and First-level Chief Officer of the Veterans Affairs Bureau in Bincheng District, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, among others.
In a related development, on January 29, 2026, Sun Shaocheng, former Director of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and former Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia, was detained. From March 2018 to April 2022, Sun Shaocheng served as the first Minister of the newly established Ministry of Veterans Affairs and Party Secretary.
During the same period when Sun Shaocheng was detained, his former deputy, Cao Jun, was dismissed in late January 2026 and transferred to the position of Standing Committee member and Secretary of the Organization Department of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee.
Cao Jun, born in December 1969, had long been involved in veteran affairs. After the establishment of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs in 2018, Cao Jun held various positions within the ministry, such as Deputy Director and Director of the Veterans Welfare Office, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the directly-affiliated organ, Deputy Secretary of the Personnel Department, and eventually became a Party Committee member and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs in May 2024.
Before these events, on August 11, 2025, Yang Youbin, born in 1968 and a delegate to the 20th Party Congress of the CCP, was dismissed from his position as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
Public information reveals that Yang Youbin had served as a political commissar in a division of the original 54th Group Army, Deputy Director of the Political Department in the 83rd Group Army of the Central Theater Command, Director of the Political Department in the 82nd Group Army, and Political Comm…