On December 4, Party Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, former Vice Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Party Committee, and former Chairman of the Government, Lan Tianli, was expelled from the party. He was accused of forming cliques within the party, cultivating personal power, engaging in speculative activities, associating with political swindlers, resisting investigation, illegally selecting and appointing officials, being extremely greedy, and using his position for personal gains in project contracting and the appointment of officials, as well as accepting huge amounts of illegal bribes.
Lan Tianli’s expulsion also led to the termination of his qualifications as a representative of the 20th National Congress of the CPC. The suspected criminal issues of Lan Tianli have been transferred to the judicial authorities for investigation and prosecution.
On May 16 of this year, Lan Tianli was reported to have fallen from grace, becoming the second provincial-level government leader to be investigated during his tenure since the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022.
The 63-year-old Lan Tianli has been immersed in Guangxi politics for over thirty years, earning him the monikers “King of Guangxi” and “King of Zhuang”. His investigation has drawn attention both domestically and internationally.
It was reported that Lan Tianli’s wife Wei Xiaoyan, brother, as well as his son, were also arrested, and even his secretary was unable to escape legal action.
Analyses from Hong Kong media suggest that as a senior ethnic minority official in both the national and CPC political arenas, Lan Tianli’s case may involve corruption in non-ferrous metals, affecting at least 800 officials and businessmen.
On May 19, the Secretary of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress, Chen Gang, chaired a meeting and proposed the “Special Operation to Investigate Illegal Mining and Heavy Metal Pollution Issues for the past ten years”, ordering a crackdown on issues such as collusion between officials and businessmen, official corruption, and severe violations by enterprises.
Guangxi’s mineral resources, especially aluminum and tin, are prominent, with Lan Tianli’s hometown in Hechi being referred to as the “hometown of China’s non-ferrous metals”. Over the years, unregulated mining activities in Hechi, Baise, and other regions have led to serious ecological pollution.
Recently, several officials in Guangxi have fallen from grace, including the Deputy Mayor of Qinzhou City, Zhong Hengqin, the Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Party Committee of the Autonomous Region, Li Wenbo, the Secretary-General of the Wuzhou Municipal Party Committee, Wei Yan, and the Deputy General Manager of the Beibu Gulf International Port Group, Pan Liaoting, who is a non-ferrous metal expert.
According to revelations by exiled Australian anti-communist influencer Yin Ke (online name “Jiangwangzheng”), Beijing has categorized Lan Tianli’s case as “treason”. Following Lan Tianli’s investigation, Guo Shengkun and the officials he promoted in Guangxi were also summoned.
Guo Shengkun had long been in charge in Guangxi before being promoted to a member of the CPC Political Bureau and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. Not only is he a former member of the CPC Central Committee and a heavyweight in the Jiang faction, he is also said to be the nephew-in-law of Jiang Qinghong.
On the evening of May 29, official Chinese media reported that the 16th meeting of the 14th Standing Committee of the Guangxi People’s Congress passed a decision for Lan Tianli to resign from the position of Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region due to serious violations of discipline and law.