The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party announced the removal of multiple NPC delegates, including the confirmation of the fall of Navy Chief of Staff Li Hanjun. As early as three months ago, news had spread about Li Hanjun being investigated for his involvement in the Miao Hua and Dong Jun cases.
According to the official announcement on the website of the Chinese Communist Party’s NPC on June 27th, Jin Xiangjun, Lu Wenjun, Long Xiang, Wang Xiongchang, Lan Tianli, Liu Jiachen, Liu Shipeng, and others have been removed from their positions as NPC delegates by the relevant local Standing Committees of the People’s Congress; the Navy Delegate Assembly has removed Li Hanjun from his position as an NPC delegate.
Li Hanjun is the current Navy Chief of Staff and a Navy Rear Admiral. This is the first time that the news of Li Hanjun’s downfall has been officially disclosed.
Public records show that Li Hanjun was born in October 1965 in Dinghai District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province. He entered the Dalian Naval Academy in July 1982; he served as the Director of the Military Training Department of the Chinese Communist Party Navy Headquarters in December 2009; Director of the Training Department of the Naval Command College in 2014; Commander of Navy Unit 92403 in 2014, promoted to Rear Admiral. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Office for Reform and Organization of the Central Military Commission. In 2018, he became the Deputy Minister of Training Management of the Central Military Commission, and later served as the President of the Naval Command College and Navy Chief of Staff.
Li Hanjun also previously served as the Commander of the Chinese Communist Party Navy Fujian Base.
In February and March of this year, outspoken anti-communist activist Edwin (Edwin Yin Ke), who is currently residing in Australia, revealed on his YouTube channel twice the news of Li Hanjun being investigated as the Navy Chief of Staff of the Chinese Communist Party. Another whistleblower, “Big Package Dynasty,” stated in March that Navy Chief of Staff Li Hanjun was involved in the Miao Hua and Dong Jun cases and was under investigation.
Miao Hua, the Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party’s 31st Group Army in Fujian, fell from power in November last year. He was considered a confidant of Xi Jinping, the top leader of the Chinese Communist Party, who had previously worked in Fujian. Many observers believe that Miao Hua was a supporter of Defense Minister Dong Jun, who is also a Navy Admiral.
Since taking over as Minister of Defense at the end of 2023, Dong Jun has not been promoted to a member of the Central Military Commission or a State Councilor as is customary. It was later rumored that he was involved in investigations related to Central Military Commission member Miao Hua, further tarnishing his reputation.
On November 28th last year, exiled former Chinese Communist Party Navy Colonel Yao Cheng revealed that Dong Jun and others were taken in for questioning and provided testimony against Miao Hua that temporarily spared them.
Dong Jun has held various positions in the Navy, including Director of the Military Training Department of the Navy Headquarters, Deputy Chief of Staff of the North Sea Fleet, and Commander of Navy Unit 92269. He was Deputy Commander of the East Sea Fleet in 2013 and became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy in December 2014. In January 2017, he was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Southern Theater Command. In July 2018, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. In March 2021, he was transferred to Deputy Commander of the Navy and in August 2021, he was appointed Navy Commander.
Miao Hua served in the 31st Group Army stationed in Fujian from 1969 to 2005, where he held the position of Political Director. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Navy Political Commissar. In 2017, he was promoted to a member of the Central Military Commission and Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, overseeing personnel matters for the entire military.
From their resumes, it can be seen that Li Hanjun was a former subordinate of Miao Hua and Dong Jun, and after 2017 transitioned from the Navy to a position within the Central Military Commission before taking on the role of Navy Chief of Staff.