Amid a significant increase in COVID-19 (Chinese Communist Virus) infections, in less than a month since mid-July 2026, at least 7 young and middle-aged professors in mainland China have passed away due to the virus. Among them, at least 5 were members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including 41-year-old Lin Shaojiang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Artificial Intelligence at Chengdu University of Information Engineering, and 38-year-old Liu Haiming, a professor at Shandong University of Finance and Economics.
On August 12, 2026, Chengdu University of Information Engineering issued an obituary announcing the passing of Lin Shaojiang, an outstanding CCP member and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Artificial Intelligence at Chengdu University of Information Engineering (in charge of the work of the Party Committee). Lin Shaojiang passed away in Chengdu on the morning of August 11, 2026, at the age of 41.
Born in Fujian in October 1984, Lin Shaojiang graduated as a doctoral student from Sichuan University, previously serving as an associate professor at Sichuan Agricultural University, Deputy County Mayor of Luxian County in Sichuan Province, Deputy Director of the Big Data Technology Service Center of Sichuan Province, and concurrently as Chairman of the Xingchuan Loan Company, a state-owned enterprise in the province. He was transferred to the School of Artificial Intelligence at Chengdu University of Information Engineering as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee at the end of 2024.
On August 9, 2026, the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences issued an obituary for Xia Xiaoxiong, a member of the CCP and Associate Researcher at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who passed away in Beijing on August 9, 2026, at the age of 42.
According to public records, Xia Xiaoxiong was born in September 1983 in You County, Hunan. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Nanjing University Law School and Peking University Law School from 2002 to 2008. She earned her Ph.D. from the Law School of the University of Pisa in Italy from 2009 to 2012. From 2013 to 2015, Xia Xiaoxiong conducted postdoctoral research at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences before working as a researcher at the institute, specializing mainly in commercial law (basic theory of commercial law, company law, securities law, trust law, etc.).
As per the obituary from Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Liu Haiming, a CCP member, professor, doctoral supervisor, and Dean of the Shandong Institute of Financial Development, passed away suddenly on August 5, 2026, at the age of 37.
Public information shows that Liu Haiming was born in December 1988 in Weifang, Shandong. He completed his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral studies at Shandong University. In August 2016, he joined the School of Finance at Shandong University of Finance and Economics as an associate professor, was promoted to professor on December 1, 2019, and began supervising doctoral students on December 10, 2022. From January 2, 2025, he served as the Dean of the Shandong Institute of Financial Development at Shandong University of Finance and Economics (at the deputy ministerial level) and also as the Secretary of the Party Branch of the institute. Liu Haiming was selected as a national-level young outstanding talent of the CCP and was a specially appointed expert of the “Taishan Scholar” in Shandong Province.
In an incomplete tally, at least four more young and middle-aged professors in mainland China have passed away from illness since mid-July 2026.
Liu Xiaodong, a professor in the Department of Preschool Education at East China Normal University, passed away on August 2, 2026, at the age of 60 due to illness.
Wu Xinfeng, a CCP member and Deputy Dean of the School of Literature and Art at Shihezi University affiliated with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, passed away on July 23, 2026, at the age of 43.
Miao Xingwei, a CCP member and Dean, professor, and doctoral supervisor at the School of Foreign Languages and Literature at Beijing Normal University, passed away in Beijing on July 19, 2026, at the age of 58 due to treatment being ineffective.
Zhang Jicheng, an associate professor at the Law School of South China University of Technology and masters’ supervisor, passed away on July 17, 2026, at the age of 50 from a sudden heart attack.
Prior to this, from June to early July 2026, over ten young and middle-aged university professors and corporate executives in mainland China had died due to illness, including Sun Fanglin, 58-year-old Dean of the Institute of Translational Medicine at Tongji University, Xue Yanhua, 37-year-old female associate professor at the Law School of Suzhou University, and Liao Ke, 37-year-old independent director at Red Tower Securities Co., Ltd.
From June to early August 2026, in approximately two months, at least 13 young and middle-aged CCP officials and police officers had died due to illness, with at least 10 of them being CCP members. Additionally, at least seven CCP officials aged over 60 but under 70 had also passed away.
Meanwhile, in the past few months, there has been a significant increase in COVID-19 (Chinese Communist Virus) infections in mainland China.
Data released by the CCP officials indicated that in June 2026, there were 79,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, equivalent to about 70% of the total cases reported from January to May; this figure was 2.4 times higher than the new cases reported in June 2025. In July 2026, the country recorded 522,000 new confirmed cases, marking a 6.61-fold increase from June (79,000 cases).
During weeks 27 to 31 of 2026, the positivity rate of COVID-19 among flu-like cases at emergency departments continued to rise, reaching 8.2%, 11.2%, 15.3%, 19.5%, and 21.2% consecutively.
The CCP Centers for Disease Control stated that the current outbreak is at a mid-level of prevalence. However, experts have predicted that once the positivity rate exceeds 20%, it could potentially enter a high-level of prevalence.
Given the CCP’s past practice of concealing the true extent of epidemics during public health crises, there are concerns that the actual situation of the epidemic on the mainland may be much more severe than officially reported.
As early as in March 2020, Master Li Hongzhi warned in the article “Rationality”: “The current ‘Chinese Communist Virus’ (Wuhan pneumonia) epidemic is purposeful and targeted. It is here to eliminate the Communist Party’s accomplices, those who are aligned with the evil party.” Master Li Hongzhi pointed out: “Stay away from the Communist Party, do not stand with it, because behind it is a red devil, with surface behaviors being ruffian, committing all evils. The divine will start to eliminate it, and those standing with it will be eliminated.”
Master Li Hongzhi also indicated how individuals can navigate through this epidemic: “People should sincerely repent to the divine, recognize their own shortcomings, and hope for the opportunity to change, which is the solution and the panacea.”