On the eve of the Third Plenum, former director of the Chinese Communist Party’s National Sports Administration, Gou Zhongwen, who was just announced to have fallen from grace at the end of last month, had his credentials as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference revoked on June 6. On the same day, former Minister of Justice of the Chinese Communist Party, Tang Yijun, was also retroactively stripped of his national committee membership of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
June 6, the Chinese Communist Party Central Television reported that the Seventh Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference concluded in Beijing. The notification issued after the meeting announced the removal of Gou Zhongwen as a member of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC and Vice Chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee, and the revocation of his membership.
Former director of the Chinese Communist Party National Sports Administration Gou Zhongwen was just announced to have fallen from grace on May 30. Gou Zhongwen took office in the National Sports Administration in 2016, was relieved of his director position on July 29, 2022, and subsequently appointed Vice Chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC and appointed as a member of the Thirteenth National Committee of the CPPCC. In January 2023, Gou Zhongwen was elected as a member of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC.
Since the investigation of Li Tie, former head coach of the Chinese men’s national football team in 2022, the officialdom of the Chinese sports system has been in a constant state of turmoil. Many high-ranking officials in the sports system have fallen from grace. After Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the Chinese Communist Party National Sports Administration, fell from grace on April 1, 2023, several mainland self-media outlets had hinted in articles that there would definitely be “big fish” caught next, with “Lao Gou” (Gou Zhongwen) among the popular figures.
On June 6, Gou Zhongwen had his national committee membership of the CPPCC revoked, while former Minister of Justice of the Chinese Communist Party, Tang Yijun, was retroactively stripped of his membership of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC.
In April of this year, Tang Yijun was investigated during his tenure as chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC. On April 29, Tang Yijun was stripped of his membership of the Fourteenth National Committee of the CPPCC. On May 29, the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC announced the removal of Tang Yijun from his position as chairman of the Thirteenth Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC.
Earlier reports mentioned the eve of the Third Plenary Session, Tang Yijun was relieved of another position.
On April 4, Caixin reported that a source revealed that Tang Yijun was taken away on the afternoon of March 28. At that time, Tang was in an internal meeting of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, and was directly taken to Beijing by personnel from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On the same day that Gou Zhongwen and Tang Yijun had their membership of the National Committee of the CPPCC revoked, the former Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Zhang Xiaoming, who is only 60 years old, was also officially expelled from the CPPCC.
On the eve of the Third Plenum, in addition to the aforementioned officials, several officials have been processed intensively recently. For example, Bai Tianhui, former General Manager of Huarong International, was sentenced to death, former deputy director of the Chinese Tobacco Monopoly Bureau He Zehua was sentenced to death with a reprieve, and former Vice President of COFCO Group Zhou Zheng was arrested.
Du Wen, a former insider of the communist system who is now in exile overseas, has previously told Radio Free Asia that on the eve of the Third Plenum, senior officials have been intensively processed, indicating that the Xi administration is intentionally creating a climate of terror in officialdom to deter dissenting voices within the Chinese Communist Party.