On July 16, 2026, Tan Quan, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security of the Chinese Communist Party, was dismissed from his position. Just a week before, he attended a high-level meeting in Chongqing, suspected to be taking over the position left vacant by Zhang Anjiang, who passed away two months ago, as the Vice Mayor and Public Security Bureau Chief of Chongqing.
Tan Quan is a close associate of Wang Xiaohong, the Minister of the Ministry of Public Security of the Chinese Communist Party, and has been promoted multiple times by Wang Xiaohong. In recent years, there have been frequent personnel changes in the upper echelons of the Ministry of Public Security, with Wang Xiaohong’s close associates being successively reassigned.
On July 16, 2026, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency of the Chinese Communist Party, the State Council of Human Resources and Social Security issued a list of appointments and dismissals, which included the dismissal of Tan Quan from his position as Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security.
According to his publicly available resume, Tan Quan, born in Xuanhan, Sichuan in July 1971, graduated from Beijing Normal University with a major in Chemistry. He has served in various positions in the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, including as Deputy Director and Director of the Security Management Brigade for Dangerous Goods, Director of the Dangerous Goods Management Detachment, and Deputy Director of the Security Brigade of MENTOUGOU Branch. In March 2014, he became the Deputy Director of the Public Transport Safety Defense General Brigade (Public Transport Safety Defense Detachment) of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
During Wang Xiaohong’s tenure as the Director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau from March 2015 to April 2020, Tan Quan served as the Political Commissar of the Public Transport Safety Defense General Brigade (Public Transport Safety Defense Detachment) of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau in June 2017. In July 2018, he was promoted to a member of the Party Group of the Haidian District Government of Beijing, Deputy District Governor, Party Secretary and Director of the Haidian Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Deputy Secretary (concurrently) of the Judicial Committee of the Haidian District Committee of the Communist Party of Beijing.
During Wang Xiaohong’s tenure as the Minister of the Ministry of Public Security since June 2022, Tan Quan was transferred to the Director of the Network Security Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security by early 2024; in October 2025, he was promoted to a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security and Assistant Minister, only to be dismissed less than a year later.
According to information from the website of the Chongqing Municipal Government, the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held a meeting on July 9, 2026, chaired by the Secretary of the Municipal Committee Yuan Jiajun.
Photos released on the Chongqing government’s official website and video footage from Chongqing TV’s “Chongqing News Broadcast” show that Tan Quan attended this meeting. He was seated in the second row, a position similar to that of Zhang Anjiang, the former Director of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, at a meeting of the same level. Sitting on either side of Tan Quan were Xu Jian, Deputy Mayor and Party Member of the Chongqing Municipal Government, as well as Ming Ju, Party Member of the Chongqing Municipal Government, Director of the Office of the Administration, and Secretary of the Institution Party Group.
From July 14 to 15, 2026, the National Public Security Department Director Forum was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Footage from the event showed Tan Quan sitting among a group of provincial and municipal-level public security departments. An account under the username “Vincent” posted on July 15, 2026, suggesting that Tan Quan had been appointed as the Party Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, overseeing the daily work of the city’s public security bureau.
Currently, Tan Quan has been listed as a member of the Party Group of the Chongqing Municipal Government and a candidate for Vice Mayor on the Wikipedia page for the “Chongqing Municipal Government.”
Indications suggest that Tan Quan will take over the position left vacant by Zhang Anjiang who passed away two months ago, becoming the Vice Mayor and Public Security Bureau Chief of Chongqing.
Earlier, on the evening of May 7, 2026, official media reports in Chongqing stated that Zhang Anjiang, the Vice Mayor and Director of the Public Security Bureau of Chongqing, “passed away at 10:52 on May 7, 2026 due to a sudden illness, at the age of 55.” However, there were widespread rumors on the internet suggesting that Zhang Anjiang had died by suicide.
On June 26, 2026, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress announced the natural termination of Zhang Anjiang’s status as a national representative, but there was an unusual lack of formal condolences following his death.
Among the seven previous Directors of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau before Zhang Anjiang, Zhu Mingguo, Wang Lijun, He Ting, and Deng Huilin were all investigated. Consequently, the position of Director of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau has been described as a “high-risk position.”
The political landscape in Chongqing has been turbulent recently. Just before the death of Zhang Anjiang, on March 20, 2026, Hu Henghua, Vice Secretary of the Municipal Committee and Mayor of Chongqing, was placed under investigation, followed by Luo Lin, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Liangjiang New Area Committee on April 17, 2026.
Over the past year, there have been frequent personnel changes in the upper echelons of the Ministry of Public Security of the Chinese Communist Party, with Wang Xiaohong’s close associates and subordinates being reassigned or dismissed one after another.
On June 26, 2026, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security of the Chinese Communist Party and Counter-Terrorism Commissioner Yue Xiuhu was transferred to the position of Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission. During Wang Xiaohong’s tenure as Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, Yue Xiuhu served as Vice Governor and Director of the Public Security Department of Yunnan Province in January 2023; in June 2024, he was promoted to a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security and Commissioner for Counter-Terrorism.
On January 31, 2026, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security Liu Zhongyi was dismissed from his position and subsequently retired upon reaching the retirement age.
In May 2025, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security and Director of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security Hu Binchen was transferred to the position of Vice Governor and Director of the Public Security Department of Jiangsu Province.
In July 2025, Yang Weilin was appointed as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security; Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Public Security Chen Siyuan and Sun Maoli were dismissed from their positions. Member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security and Director of the Political Department Ling Zhifeng was promoted to Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security and concurrently Director of the Special Police Bureau. In April 2025, Xu Ganlu was dismissed from his position as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security and Commissioner of the National Immigration Administration (National Immigration and Exit Administration).
Among the personnel changes mentioned above, Xu Ganlu, Chen Siyuan, Tan Quan, Hu Binchen, and Yue Xiuhu, who were dismissed from or reassigned from their positions, were all close associates and former subordinates of Minister of the Ministry of Public Security Wang Xiaohong. On the other hand, newly appointed Deputy Minister Yang Weilin and Deputy Minister and Director of the Special Police Bureau Ling Zhifeng had no prior professional intersections with Wang Xiaohong.
Wang Xiaohong is a close former associate of the current leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, from Fujian Province. As the Ministry of Public Security undergoes a series of personnel changes at the top, there have been constant rumors about Wang Xiaohong’s health and rumors of him stepping down due to cancer.
From mid-April to the end of June 2026, the 12th Central Inspection Group of the Chinese Communist Party inspected the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security. Over the past three months of inspection, over 20 high-ranking political and public security officials above the rank of Deputy Bureau Chief have successively fallen, including high-ranking officials, former Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Director of the Public Security Department Zhu Changjie.