In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party authorities have been announcing various charges against officials who have fallen from power, ranging from “reading overseas publications with serious political issues” to an increasing number of cases related to “overbearing the second child beyond the planned birth limit.” However, as early as 2016, the authorities had already relaxed the policies for having a second and third child, encouraging childbirth.
According to a report released on November 22 by the Shanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Tinghong, the former Secretary of the Lu Liang City Shilou County Committee in Shanxi Province, was placed under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
The report stated that Wang Tinghong was disloyal and dishonest to the Party and resisted organizational scrutiny. He intervened in private lending activities using his official influence, sought benefits for others in business operations, and unlawfully accepted large sums of money. He also misappropriated a substantial amount of public funds for personal use.
Furthermore, the official report specifically mentioned the county committee secretary’s “exceeding the second child birth limit” in terms of family planning.
The authorities’ measures against Wang Tinghong included expulsion from the Party and public office, revocation of his delegate qualification to the 12th Provincial Party Congress in Shanxi, and referral of his suspected criminal issues to the procuratorate for review and prosecution.
In May of this year, Wang Tinghong, the secretary of the Shilou County Committee in Lu Liang City, was announced to be under investigation by the authorities. Just two days before the investigation started, he presided over a meeting of the county committee standing committee and a central group study meeting.
His public resume shows that Wang Tinghong previously served as the Deputy Magistrate of Jiaokou County and became the Mayor of Xiaoyi City in 2015. He was officially recognized as a first-class researcher in August 2020 and assumed office as the Secretary of Shilou County Committee in March 2021.
The news of the county committee secretary “exceeding the second child birth limit” has sparked discussions among Chinese netizens after being reported by mainland media.
Some netizens commented, “Having a second child according to the current policy should be a merit, so how did it become a crime?” and “Can exceeding the birth limit be a condition for sentence reduction?”
Others believe that “bringing up the issue of exceeding the birth limit is just a pretext, or a breakthrough in the case.”
In recent years, several Chinese Communist Party officials have been reported for “exceeding the planned birth limit.” For instance, in February 2024, Liu Sikun, former member of the Lufeng City Committee and former Minister of the United Front Work Department, was dismissed in Guangdong. In November 2023, Li Minfeng, former party member and deputy chairman of the Political Consultative Conference in Duanshan County, Anhui, was removed. In July 2022, Wang Jinjiang, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference, was dismissed. In March 2022, Kang Zhiwen, former Secretary of the Jixi City Party Committee in Heilongjiang, was dismissed. In May 2021, Mei Rong, former Deputy Director of the People’s Congress of Dazhou City, Sichuan, was expelled from public office. In October 2019, Chen Yuxin, Secretary of the party committee of the Huaiwei Group in Hebei, was removed.
In fact, as early as the end of 2013, the Chinese authorities began implementing the “two-child policy,” which transitioned to the “comprehensive two-child policy” at the beginning of 2016. By 2021, the authorities implemented the “comprehensive three-child policy,” and various regions have frequently introduced incentives for childbirth.
Before the relaxation of the second child policy, the Chinese Communist Party enforced the “family planning” policy for decades, which involved forced abortions, compulsory sterilization, high fines, violent beatings, and illegal detention nationwide. At that time, bloody and inhumane family planning slogans were ubiquitous in China. Now, with the shift in the country’s childbirth policies, these slogans promoting three-child policies will replace the previous family planning propaganda.