Today (23rd), before the closing of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the State Council announced a batch of appointments and removals of high-ranking officials, with a change in the director of the National Religious Affairs Bureau. The Communist Party’s religious circle has recently been rocked by the high-profile incident involving the abbot of Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin. The National Religious Affairs Bureau has been suggested as one of its backers.
In the afternoon of the 23rd, the Xinhua News Agency of the Chinese Communist Party announced the appointment of Tan Quan as Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security; the appointment of Duan Yijun as the Director of the National Religious Affairs Bureau; and the appointment of Gao Xiang as the President of Dalian University of Technology (Vice Ministerial level). Duan Yijun was relieved of his duties as Deputy Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission; Wang Dongwei was removed from his position as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance; Chen Ruifeng was removed from his position as Director of the National Religious Affairs Bureau; Jia Zhenyuan was removed from his position as President of Dalian University of Technology; Wang Shuxin was removed from his position as President of Chongqing University.
Public information shows that the newly appointed Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, Tan Quan, was born in 1971 in Xuanhan, Sichuan. He has held various positions including Deputy Commander and Political Commissar of the Public Transport Safety Guard Corps (Public Transport Safety Guard Bureau) of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, Deputy District Governor of Haidian District, and Director of Haidian Branch of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Director of the Network Security Guard Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.
The newly appointed director of the National Religious Affairs Bureau, Duan Yijun, born in July 1967 in Leshan, Sichuan, had a long career in Sichuan. From February to July 2023, he served as Vice Governor of Sichuan Province, and from July 2023 to October 2025, he was Deputy Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission before this appointment.
Chen Ruifeng, who served as Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department and Director of the Religious Affairs Bureau from March 2023 to September 2025, was appointed Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department, Party Secretary, and Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission in September this year.
On July 27th this year, the official announcement from Shaolin Temple stated that Shi Yongxin was suspected of criminal offenses, including embezzlement of project funds and temple assets; serious violations of Buddhist precepts, maintaining improper relationships with multiple women and having illegitimate children, and is currently undergoing a joint investigation by multiple departments.
Shi Yongxin was reported ten years ago but remained untouched, raising questions about his backers.
Ten years ago, Shi Yongxin’s report also implicated the Chinese Communist Party’s Religious Affairs Bureau. At that time, the bureau “requested Henan Province’s religious affairs department to coordinate with relevant departments and localities to understand and verify the situation.” The investigation by Henan officials lasted more than 120 days, and the published report concluded that Shi Yongxin was “innocent”. Some media commentators pointed out that this was essentially a case of “checking oneself”, as all were part of the same interest group, and the responsibility was pushed to Henan by the Chinese Communist Party’s Religious Affairs Bureau.
Liao He, a Chinese affairs expert, previously told The Epoch Times that it was Jiang Zemin’s former politburo member Li Changchun who first promoted Shi Yongxin. Shi Yongxin has flourished under the leadership of three generations of CCP leaders, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping, catering to each of them, especially with his business empire. He likely had support from each of the politburo standing committee members and may have had backers among all three party leaders.