In the past month since the Chinese New Year, there has been a series of unfortunate deaths among middle-aged and young Chinese Communist Party officials, police officers, scholars, and prominent figures in Chinese society. Among them was Yang Lie, a 49-year-old director of the Chinese Communist Party Atheist Society.
The Chinese Atheist Society announced the passing of Yang Lie on March 10, 2026. Yang, a member of the Chinese Communist Party and a director of the 5th Council of the Chinese Atheist Society, passed away on March 7, 2026, at the age of 49 due to illness.
The announcement stated that Yang Lie had been dedicated to the study of Catholicism in China, making “active and unique contributions to the development of atheism in China.”
According to the official website of the Institute of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Chinese Atheist Society is a national academic society studying Marxist religious studies and atheistic thoughts at home and abroad, supervised by the CASS and currently affiliated with the Institute of Marxism at the CASS.
Since the Chinese New Year, mainland Chinese media have also reported on several cases of middle-aged and young Chinese Communist Party officials, professors, and national athletes passing away.
Fan Changjun, an associate professor at the Law School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, passed away on the evening of March 10, 2026, at the age of 51 due to ineffective medical treatment. Fan had served as a member of the Teaching Guidance Committee at the Law School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and director of the Intellectual Property Law Research Office.
Teng Zhiqiang, a whitewater kayaking athlete in China, passed away on February 26, 2026, at the age of 35 due to illness. Teng was awarded the title of “International Sports Master” by the State Sports General Administration of the Chinese Communist Party on January 25, 2010. He won the gold medal in men’s individual kayaking at the Guangzhou Asian Games on November 14 of the same year, becoming the first gold medalist for China’s aquatic team in the Asian Games.
Wu Jinsong, the Party Secretary of Wailing Village, Duchen Town, Huangzhou District, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, suddenly passed away during the first work meeting of the village party branch after the Chinese New Year on February 24, 2026, at the age of 56.
Li Xinying, a researcher and doctoral supervisor at the Department of Health and Genetics at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away in Egypt on February 23, 2026, at the age of 48 due to non-specific respiratory failure.
Huang Yongxiang, a Chinese Communist Party member, senior specialist in mental health in the Wuhan area of China Resources Health, and former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Second Workers’ Hospital of Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Company, passed away at his home in Wuhan on February 22, 2026, at the age of 60 due to a sudden illness.
Chen Jiawei, the Deputy Mayor of Gongchang Town, Longxi County, Dingxi City, Gansu Province, suddenly fainted on February 14, 2026, and despite emergency medical treatment, he passed away on February 16, 2026, at the age of 36 due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
On March 12, 2026, mainland Chinese media reported the passing of Lan Qi, a police officer of the Anti-Terrorism and Special Police Detachment of Hezhou Public Security Bureau, at the age of 48. Lan Qi had been recognized as an outstanding Communist Party member.
Previously, in the five weeks from late January to early March 2026, at least seven middle-aged police officers aged 35 to 55, all Communist Party members, passed away suddenly in mainland China.
Around the time of the Chinese New Year, residents in various regions informed NTD Television that the local COVID-19 situation was escalating, with many people getting infected and hospitals overwhelmed. The number of critically ill patients and those passing away without warning symptoms has been on the rise. Despite the declining population, many regions are still constructing new hospitals and funeral parlors, and frantically building cemeteries.