In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-corruption efforts have intensified, with more and more corrupt officials being brought to justice. Recently, Dou Wangu, former member of the Xinjiang Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Party Committee and vice chairman, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, illegally accepting a total of over 229 million yuan in property and assets.
On July 9, the Intermediate People’s Court of Liuzhou City, Guangxi Province, publicly announced the verdict of the bribery case of Dou Wangu, former member of the Xinjiang CPPCC Party Committee and vice chairman. Dou Wangu was sentenced to death for bribery with a two-year reprieve, lifetime deprivation of political rights, confiscation of all personal property, and surrender of the bribes to the national treasury, with continued efforts to recover any outstanding amounts.
Public records show that Dou Wangu, an ethnic Han, was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province in October 1962. After graduating from the Xinjiang Agricultural Science Academy Technical School with a major in agriculture in October 1982, Dou Wangu worked extensively at the grassroots level in Emin County. In 1990, he served as a technician in the county seed company for nearly 8 years before being transferred to the County Party Committee Organization Department as a staff member, starting his political career. In 1995, he became a member of the County Party Committee and the Minister of the Organization Department.
In 2001, he became the Secretary of the Tuoli County Party Committee. From 2005 to 2009, Dou Wangu served as a member of the Turpan Prefecture Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department before being transferred to the Aksu Prefecture Party Committee as a member and Minister of the Organization Department. Dou Wangu, who worked in Aksu for 13 years, successively held positions as the Minister of the Organization Department and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Aksu Prefecture Party Committee. In 2013, he was appointed as the Secretary of the Prefecture Party Committee until he stepped down in April 2022. In January 2018, Dou Wangu was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region CPPCC and held the position until his investigation and subsequent expulsion from the Party and dismissal from public office in October 2024.
According to the information disclosed by the Chinese Communist Party’s Discipline and Inspection Commission, Dou Wangu engaged in speculation, associated with “political swindlers,” accepted illicit gifts, exploited his authority for the benefit of family and friends’ business activities, and leveraged his position to seek benefits for others in mineral resource development, contracting of engineering projects, and the selection and appointment of cadres, among other activities, and illegally acquired substantial amounts of assets.
Investigations revealed that from 2003 to 2022, Dou Wangu, through his positions as Secretary of the Tuoli County Party Committee, a member of the Turpan Prefecture Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department, a member of the Aksu Prefecture Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department, the Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Aksu Prefecture Party Committee, Deputy Secretary in charge and Secretary of the Prefecture Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region CPPCC, used his influence to benefit related entities and individuals in project contracts, mineral development, business operations, and promotions, directly or through intermediaries, illegally obtaining a total of over 229 million yuan.
A former public servant from Hunan, using the alias Li Yichen, expressed to Dajiyuan that “the Chinese Communist Party has institutionalized corruption, with corruption occurring at all levels from the central to local government. Under this system, the issue of corruption cannot be resolved. The anti-corruption campaign is merely a show for the public; it is not genuine anti-corruption but a facade. This so-called anti-corruption is only to maintain political power, and in reality, the corruption is protected.”