Former associate of Hu Chunhua under investigation, mysterious guesthouse in Inner Mongolia officialdom exposed

On June 3rd, Wang Bo, former Vice Chairman of the Inner Mongolia People’s Congress Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is under investigation. Former CCP official Du Wen revealed that Wang Bo was a trusted aide of Hu Chunhua, former Secretary of Inner Mongolia, and many high-ranking officials in Inner Mongolia who have been investigated in recent years are connected to Hu Chunhua. Du Wen also disclosed that during Wang Bo’s tenure, there was a mysterious guesthouse at the Chifeng State Security Bureau.

The CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on June 3rd that Wang Bo, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Inner Mongolia People’s Congress Standing Committee, had fallen from grace.

At the age of 66, Wang Bo had previously served in various positions in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, including as a member of the Chifeng Municipal Committee, Deputy Mayor, and Deputy Secretary. From October 2006, he held positions in Baotou, Bayannur, and later became the Deputy Secretary and Mayor of Hohhot in April 2010. In November 2011, Wang Bo became the Vice Chairman of Inner Mongolia and a member of the government party group. Starting from January 2018, he successively held positions such as Vice Chairman of the Inner Mongolia People’s Congress Standing Committee and Chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee.

Du Wen, former executive director of the Legal Affairs Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government who is now in exile in Europe, revealed in a YouTube video on June 3rd that Wang Bo’s secretary, Xiao Duan, had an incident ten years ago. Wang Bo had a strong demeanor, and his brother, Wang Tao, was a real estate developer with an even stronger presence. “I have always been curious why he did not encounter any issues, and now the shoe has dropped.”

Du Wen revealed that as Wang Bo was a former subordinate of Hu Chunhua, he was worried for Hu. Upon reviewing the recent top officials investigated in Inner Mongolia, many were linked to Hu Chunhua. Those Hu promoted in Inner Mongolia are now facing setbacks, heading towards a downfall. It is said that at the time, Hu admired Wang Bo greatly. He first brought Wang Bo to Hohhot as mayor, and then transferred Secretary Na Shunmeng from Bayan Nur, aiming to replicate the municipal construction experience in Hohhot.

Hu Chunhua served as Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Congress Standing Committee from 2009 to 2012.

Du Wen stated that during Hu Chunhua’s tenure, Wang Bo was directly promoted from Deputy Mayor of Hohhot to Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region in 2011. Wang Bo had always wished to rise to the position of a provincial party secretary or even a governor in another province but failed to fulfill his ambitions.

Du Wen further revealed that during Wang Bo’s time in Chifeng, there was a guesthouse in the backyard of the Chifeng State Security Bureau, with two floors consisting of a kitchen and a private dining restaurant on the first floor, and over ten guest rooms upstairs. The place was staffed with top chefs, aged wines, and over twenty female attendants, including four female attendants at the front desk who seemed idle without many guests each month. The guesthouse was extraordinary, where women were abundant and discreetly mysterious – all thanks to Wang Bo.

In recent years, many fallen officials have been reported to have violated rules by entering private clubs or official guesthouses, which are essentially places for power-money exchanges and trading of favors.

The Xi Jinping administration has initiated a “retrospective investigation of twenty years” into corruption in Inner Mongolia, leading to the filing of cases against over a thousand officials, including at least five high-ranking officials, some of whom are connected to Hu.

Li Jia, the former deputy of Hu Chunhua in Inner Mongolia and later Chairman of the Shanxi Political Consultative Conference, was dismissed and demoted in August 2022 before the CCP’s 20th National Congress. One of Li Jia’s offenses was “engaging in non-organizational activities such as disguised canvassing during party elections.” The so-called “canvassing” refers to Li Jia’s actions while working in the Inner Mongolia Party Committee before the 18th National Congress when Hu Chunhua was the Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia, Li Jia was the Minister of Organization, and held positions as a member of the party committee and deputy secretary.

Analysts like Gao Xin pointed out that just before the 20th National Congress, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection seized on an incident from ten years ago, indicating hidden motives. While Li Jia’s punishment was relatively light, it was still a form of punishment. As the saying goes, punishing the dog to punish the master, is Li Jia’s story a warning to Hu Chunhua?

At the CCP’s 20th National Congress in October 2022, the new Central Political Bureau members and Political Bureau Standing Committee were revealed, with Hu Chunhua failing to enter the Political Bureau. This was seen as part of Xi Jinping’s efforts to cleanse factional influence.