In the past month, at least six top executives of China Mobile have been investigated successively, involving branch offices in Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shandong, and other provinces. Analysts believe that this crackdown is closely related to the power struggle among high-level factions within the Chinese Communist Party for control over digital authority.
According to the announcement on May 11 by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the Communist Party of China, Gao Zhixing, former Party committee member and deputy general manager of Guangdong Mobile Group (Guangdong Mobile), is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is under investigation. On the same day, Cao Jianghong, former general manager of the infrastructure office of China Mobile Sichuan, was also dealt with.
The following day, the Heze Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission announced on their official WeChat account that Liu Lujun, former vice chairman of the labor union of the Heze branch of Shandong Mobile Group, and Li Guojie, former deputy manager of the political and enterprise client center of the government-enterprise customer department, are under investigation for serious violations of discipline and law.
Statistics show that in the past month, at least six top executives of the Chinese telecom giant China Mobile Group have been investigated, including Gao Zhixing, former deputy general manager of Guangdong Mobile, and Fang Li, former chairman of China Mobile (Suzhou) Software Technology Co., Ltd.
According to a report by the “Southern Metropolis Daily” on May 11, in recent years, the cleansing storm within the three major telecom operators (China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom) has been escalating, covering various levels from the group headquarters to provincial companies, city branch offices, and specialized subsidiaries. Since 2025, at least 16 telecom operator executives have been investigated, including “heavyweight” figures such as deputy general managers of the group and general managers of provincial companies.
As the number of fallen officials continues to rise, there is increasing attention on whether this telecommunications system cleansing is a “corruption” action for redistributing benefits or if there are other political motives behind it.
Shen Mingshi, a researcher at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security Studies, pointed out in an analysis for Epoch Times that in the era of Jiang Zemin’s so-called “muffling one’s voice to make a fortune,” the Chinese Communist Party gradually formed special interest groups like China Mobile through the transfer of state-owned capital and the release of resources by the military and government.
“It may be a national conglomerate with branch offices in various provinces, forming a huge interest group,” he said. This interest group’s long-term stable operation is crucial to the close political relationships behind it, as they have established a very tight political and business network with China Mobile.
Public information shows that the China Mobile system was deeply tied to Jiang Zemin’s eldest son, Jiang Mianheng, who once boasted the title of “Telecom King of China.”
Regarding this wave of telecom system “cleansing storms,” Tang Jingyuan, a current affairs commentator in the United States, told Epoch Times that “a basic posture in the current political situation of the Communist Party is the struggle for key power between Xi Jinping’s faction and the anti-Xi faction.”
“Many officials who are now seen as Xi’s faction members were originally Jiang’s faction officials in the past, but in the centralization process of power during Xi Jinping’s years, they chose to stand with him,” he said. With the changes in the high-level political atmosphere, these officials may now become targets of a new round of purges. “The current large-scale cleansing of the telecommunications system appears more like the anti-Xi faction targeting many Xi faction officials.”
He said that after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping was hailed as the “core leader,” but his line has also sparked increasing discontent within the Chinese Communist Party. “Xi Jinping has become a common enemy of many factions within the party leadership.”
Tang Jingyuan analyzed that the reason the telecom system has become a focal point of contention is because it simultaneously controls communication, data, surveillance, and social control capabilities, making it one of the most sensitive and crucial areas of power struggle within the CCP.
“Whoever controls the telecom system has control over almost all major resources nationwide for monitoring and information control. In the high-level power struggles, this system is something that no one can overlook.”
He described this battle as the “Battle of Tianwang Mountain”, also known as the “Battle of Mount Zuoqi”, a crucial battle that determined the state of the world during Japan’s Warring States period.
Shen Mingshi also believes that for the Chinese regime, the strategic position of the telecom system is extremely critical. Therefore, in the context of the heated power struggle within the CCP, controlling the telecom system itself also holds significant political significance.
He stated that this crackdown campaign seems to show no signs of stopping in the short term. Even if it results in damage to corporate structures, the authorities may not necessarily halt the campaign if they continue to push forward with a high-pressure anti-corruption approach.