Member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, Shi Taifeng, has been missing for 19 days since June 4, 2026, and was notably absent from the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chairman’s meeting on June 22, 2026. Shi Taifeng’s activities have been unusual for the past six months.
Just before Shi Taifeng went missing, the political scene in Inner Mongolia, where he once held power, was shaken as 19 officials of department level fell from grace within 37 days. Former Inner Mongolia official, Du Wen, recently revealed that investigations into the assets of Shi Taifeng’s family in Inner Mongolia led to the arrest of his nephew.
According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, on June 22, 2026, Wang Huning, member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, presided over the 52nd Chairman’s meeting of the 14th CPPCC National Committee.
The meeting decided to convene the 18th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th CPPCC National Committee in late August 2026. The meeting also approved a decision to revoke the membership of Wei Xiaodong and Hou Guisong from the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC.
Beijing CPPCC Chairman Wei Xiaodong fell from power on June 6, 2026, while Hou Guisong, Director of the Data and Administration Bureau of Hebei Province, voluntarily surrendered on June 12, 2026, to cooperate with an investigation.
Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mu Hong, Jiang Xinzhi, Zhu Yongxin, and Yang Zhen made statements at the meeting. Vice Chairperson and Secretary-General of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Wang Dongfeng, provided explanations on relevant issues. Vice Chairpersons Hu Chunhua, Shen Yueyue, Wang Yong, Zhou Qiang, Batir, Su Hui, Shao Hong, Gao Yunlong, Chen Wu, Xian Hui, Jiang Zuojun, He Baoxiang, Wang Guangqian, and Qin Boyong attended the meeting.
Reports show that out of the current 23 Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the CPPCC, 19 were present while 4 were absent. Vice Chairpersons Shi Taifeng, Pabala Geralangjie, He Houjiu, and Leung Chun-ying were among those absent from the meeting.
A search on the official website of the National Committee of the CPPCC revealed that from January 2025 to June 22, 2026, the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC held a total of 23 meetings (from the 30th to the 52nd), with no public reports on the 32nd, 33rd, 38th, 40th, 43rd, 47th, 48th, and 51st meetings.
Of the 15 publicly reported meetings of the National Committee of the CPPCC from 2025 to the present, Vice Chairperson Pabala Geralangjie, 87 years old, was absent from all of them. He Houjiu attended 6 times and was absent 9 times, while Leung Chun-ying attended 11 times and was absent 4 times.
During the 15 publicly reported meetings of the National Committee of the CPPCC from 2025 to the present, Political Bureau member of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the CPPCC attended 13 times and was absent twice. He was absent from the 52nd Chairman’s meeting held on June 22, 2026, and the 46th Chairman’s meeting on February 9, 2026, but was present at the 49th Chairman’s meeting on March 27, 2026, and the 50th Chairman’s meeting on April 24, 2026.
On February 9, 2026, when Shi Taifeng was absent from the National Committee of the CPPCC Chairman’s meeting, he was seen at another public event.
According to official reports from the Chinese Communist Party, on the afternoon of February 6, 2026, Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party and Secretary of the Central Secretariat, visited prominent figures in the cultural industry and technology experts. Shi Taifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party and Minister of the Central Organization Department, and Li Shulei, Minister of the Central Propaganda Department, accompanied him.
There have been no reports of Shi Taifeng’s public activities on June 22, 2026, and the reason for his absence from the 52nd Chairman’s meeting of the CPPCC remains unclear.
According to Communist Party media reports, on June 3, 2026, Shi Taifeng participated in a so-called “Central Steering Group Working Symposium on Establishing and Implementing Correct Political Achievement Views Learning and Training Conference” and delivered a speech. Subsequently, from June 4, 2026, to June 22, 2026, there have been no reports of public activities from Shi Taifeng for 19 days.
As a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, Minister of the Central Organization Department, Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the CPPCC ranking first, and Deputy Secretary of the CPPCC Party Committee, Shi Taifeng has exhibited unusual behavior several times over the past six months.
On January 21, 2026, the Chinese Communist Party National Committee held a so-called symposium on the macroeconomic situation analysis for the year 2025; Shi Taifeng was absent. Both annual symposiums on the economic situation analysis for 2024 and 2025, held by the National Committee of the CPPCC, were presided over by Shi Taifeng, who also did not attend the 52nd Chairman’s meeting on June 22, 2026.
On January 20, 2026, the Chinese Communist authorities held a “Special Seminar for Provincial and Ministerial Level Officials on the Fourth Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee.” Apart from the Vice Premier He Lifeng, three Politburo members were absent from the meeting, including Vice Chairman of the Military Commission Zhang Youxia, former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui, and Minister of the Central Organization Department Shi Taifeng. Additionally, Military Commission member and Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Liu Zhenli was absent.
On January 23, 2026, Shi Taifeng appeared at the closing ceremony of the Special Seminar for Provincial and Ministerial Level Officials. Prior to this, Vice Chairman of the Military Commission Zhang Youxia and Military Commission member Liu Zhenli, who were also absent from the opening ceremony, continued to be absent from subsequent meetings. On January 24, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were announced to have fallen from grace. Ma Xingrui fell from grace on April 3, 2026.
The reasons for Shi Taifeng’s absence from the opening ceremony of the Special Seminar for Provincial and Ministerial Level Officials remain a mystery.
Amid Shi Taifeng’s unusual activities, social media has been abuzz with negative news about him. Exiled former Inner Mongolia official Du Wen revealed on June 6, 2026, that almost a hundred billion assets of Shi Taifeng in Inner Mongolia were under investigation. Since Wang Weizhong took office as the new Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia on September 30, 2025, following the lesson of Sun Shaoheng’s downfall for not being tough enough on capturing people, nearly a thousand individuals have been arrested within a short span of eight months, with 50 department-level officials officially falling from grace. Most notably, a joint crackdown was initiated against the former subordinates and relatives of Central Political Bureau member and Minister of the Central Organization Department, Shi Taifeng.
Du Wen revealed that it is known that a large-scale new energy project worth nearly a hundred billion, held by Shi Taifeng’s nephew in the Ejina Banner Industrial Park in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, has been seized, his nephew arrested, and the gatekeeper left by Shi Taifeng, Huaruifeng (former Standing Committee member of the Ordos Municipal Committee, Secretary of the Ejina Banner Committee, and Deputy Director of the Industry and Information Department) is simultaneously under investigation. The case of Huaruifeng is being dealt with jointly by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Inner Mongolia Commission for Discipline Inspection, with the part involving Shi directly handled by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the part related to Hua’s personal violations of discipline being handled by the Inner Mongolia Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On June 12, 2026, Du Wen again revealed that reliable information from Inner Mongolia indicates that during Shi Taifeng’s period in Inner Mongolia, Zhao Yunshan, who was in charge of healthcare, the President of Inner Mongolia Medical University, and the Party Secretary, caused a great stir in the medical system after being detained. He said many things he shouldn’t have said. A direct consequence was that Sui Mojie, Deputy Director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Health Commission and the Director of the Mental Hospital, hung himself in the office to protect his family, property, and superiors.
Previously, Du Wen disclosed that Wang Lixia, known as the “Queen of Changing Clothes,” was a shared mistress of Zhao Leji, a member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, and Shi Taifeng and was entangled in complex power struggles at the top levels of the Chinese Communist Party.
Shi Taifeng’s former partner, Deputy Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee, Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government, Wang Lixia, was suddenly reported to have fallen from grace on August 22, 2025, and then was investigated on February 12, 2026, and arrested on June 3, 2026, on charges of suspected bribery.
On June 2, 2026, Huaruifeng, member of the Party group of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Industrial and Information Bureau, and Zhao Yunshan, Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia Medical University, were also reported to have fallen.
During Shi Taifeng’s tenure as Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia from October 2019 to April 2022, Huaruifeng was successively promoted to Party Secretary of the Ejina Banner in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and member of the Standing Committee of the Ordos Municipal Committee; Zhao Yunshan was promoted from Deputy Party Secretary and Dean of Baotou Medical College to Deputy Party Secretary and President of Inner Mongolia Medical University.
According to the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, from April 27, 2026, to June 3, 2026, within 37 days, 19 officials of department level were collectively fallen from grace, including:
– Zhang Haifeng, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Inner Mongolia Power Group (06-03-2026)
– Yang Jipeng, Chairman of the Xing’an League Political Consultative Conference (06-03-2026)
– Zhao Yunshan, Party Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Medical University (06-02-2026)
– Zhou Qiang, Deputy Party Secretary of Baotou City (06-02-2026)
– Huaruifeng, Deputy Director of the Industrial and Information Bureau of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (06-02-2026)
– Xin Xiaorui, Director of the Department for Veterans Affairs of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee (05-21-2026)
– Wu Gang, former Deputy Director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Sports Bureau (05-20-2026)
– Liu De, Deputy Governor of the Alxa League (05-15-2026)
– Ma Baoguo, Deputy Secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee (05-12-2026)
– Fang Rui, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee (05-12-2026)
– Lian Bin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the Labor Union, and Director of the Board of Directors of Mengshang Bank Co., Ltd. (05-11-2026)
– Wang Huiyu, Secretary of the Xinghe County Committee (04-30-2026)
– Cui Yong, Secretary of the Chaha’er Right Wing Rear Banner (04-30-2026)
– Wang Dahe, Deputy Director of the People’s Congress Standing Committee of the Ulanqab City (04-30-2026)
– Wang Wangsheng, Secretary of the Hulunbuir Municipal Committee (04-29-2026)
– Tan Jingfeng, former Director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Sports Bureau (04-29-2026)
– Wei Daiqing, Deputy Director of the People’s Congress Standing Committee of the Ulanqab City (04-29-2026)
– Chao Keti, former first-level inspector of the Inner Mongolia State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (04-27-2026)
– Gao Changliang, Party Secretary of the Korqin Art Vocational College (04-27-2026)
Most of the above officials who fell from grace were promoted and valued by Shi Taifeng during his tenure in Inner Mongolia. For instance, during Shi Taifeng’s role as Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia from October 2019 to April 2022, Zhang Haifeng was successively promoted to Deputy Mayor of Tongliao City and member of the Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Finance Department; Yang Jipeng was promoted from Secretary-General of the Xing’an League Administration to Secretary of the Ulanhot City Committee; Ma Baoguo was promoted from Director of the Hohhot City Finance Bureau to Deputy Director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Finance Department and member of the Party Committee; Cui Yong was promoted to Secretary of the Chahea’er Right Banner; Wang Wangsheng was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Chifeng Municipal Committee and Mayor; and Wei Daiqing was successively promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Liangcheng County Committee and County Mayor, Secretary of the Siziwang Banner Committee.
Born in September 1956 in Yushu, Shanxi, Shi Taifeng entered the Law Department of Peking University in September 1978. He is a contemporary and schoolmate of prominent figures in the Communist Youth League, Li Keqiang, and Hu Chunhua.
Shi Taifeng served a long term at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. In July 2001, he was promoted to Vice President of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, reaching the rank of deputy ministerial level. At the Central Party School, Shi Taifeng had dealings with leaders of the Central Party School at the time, such as the Political Bureau members of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, and Xi Jinping.
In September 2010, Shi Taifeng was transferred and appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Minister of the Organization Department. The Minister of the Organization Department at the time was Li Yuanzhou, who had ties to both the Communist Youth League and the princelings. From 2000 to 2007, Li Yuanzhou had successively been Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee.
In August 2011, Shi Taifeng was appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Minister of the Organization Department, and in December 2011, he became Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee. From January 2016 to April 2017, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Governor. From June 2016 to October 2017, Li Qiang served as the Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee. The two worked together for nearly a year. Li Qiang is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party and the Premier of the State Council.
In 2017, Shi Taifeng was reassigned as Party Secretary of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Two and a half years later, in October 2019, he was transferred to Party Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
At the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in October 2022, Shi Taifeng was promoted to a member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Secretariat, Minister of the United Front Work Department, the top-ranked Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC.
In early April 2025, there was a swap in positions between Shi Taifeng, member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, and Li Ganjie. Shi Taifeng took on the role of Minister of the Central Organization Department, while Li Ganjie became the Minister of the United Front Work Department. However, Shi Taifeng continued to hold the position of Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee.