In recent months, there has been continuous upheaval in the political scene in Tangshan. A member of the Party Committee of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, a deputy mayor, two directors of the Municipal People’s Congress, and a vice director have all been investigated in various cases, including incidents involving a barbecue restaurant assault and the whistleblowing by retired official Ma Shushan.
On May 21st, the website of the Hebei Province Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Yang Jie, the Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Municipal People’s Congress in Tangshan, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the provincial commission.
Public information shows that Yang Jie, a female member of the Communist Party of China, aged 56, has held various positions in Tangshan for a long time. She has previously served as Secretary of the Communist Youth League of the Tangshan City Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Luannan County Party Committee. She has been involved in various leadership roles in the region dating back to 2006.
Yang Jie’s career progression includes positions such as County Mayor, Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee in Caofeidian Industrial Zone, where she held the rank of deputy department head. In 2012, she became the District Mayor of Caofeidian in Tangshan, and later served as a member of the Tangshan Municipal Committee and Minister of Propaganda in 2014. In June 2021, reports indicated that she had taken on the role of Secretary of the Party Group of the Municipal People’s Congress, and in August of the same year, she was appointed as the Director of the Municipal People’s Congress before facing the ongoing investigation.
Interestingly, within a month, both Yang Jie and her predecessor, Guo Yanhong, have been investigated and removed from their positions. Guo Yanhong, the former Director of the Tangshan Municipal People’s Congress, was investigated for serious violations of discipline and law on April 30.
In a separate case, in January, Ma Aijun, a former Party Committee member of the Tangshan Public Security Bureau and former director of the Lubo Sub-bureau, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 700,000 yuan for abuse of power and bribery in connection with the barbecue restaurant assault case that occurred in June 2022. The incident, where several men harassed and violently attacked a woman dining at a barbecue restaurant, drew widespread domestic and international attention.
Another official, Li Jianzhong, the Deputy Mayor of Tangshan, was announced to be under investigation in early April, followed by Li Guifu, the Deputy Director of the Municipal People’s Congress and Secretary of the Qianxi County Party Committee.
Furthermore, in January, Ma Shushan, a retired official from Qianxi County in Tangshan, faced retaliation after reporting corruption allegations against Li Guifu and others. Ma’s whistleblowing exposed the widespread “achievement projects” spearheaded by Li Guifu in Qianxi County, with a reported total investment exceeding 30 billion yuan, despite the county’s relatively small population of only 360,000 residents.