On July 20th, the official investigation results of the collective lead poisoning incident at a kindergarten in Tianshui City, Gansu Province were released. Authorities determined that the poisoning was caused by the kindergarten chef using industrial pigments to “color” food, rather than being related to nearby lead mining enterprises or environmental pollution. Six responsible individuals from the kindergarten have been arrested. Experts believe that this is a consistent tactic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cover up the truth of their crimes and deceive the public. The real culprit is the CCP itself, as the pollution by corporations is tacitly approved by the CCP authorities.
The official investigation report regarding the lead poisoning incident at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Maiji District, Tianshui City, Gansu was published on the evening of July 20th. The report denied that the incident was caused by the lead-zinc ore transfer station of the “Baiyin Nonferrous Group” located 2.5 kilometers from the kindergarten and the resulting environmental pollution.
According to the investigation, the kindergarten chef, under the instructions of the principal and investors, purchased red, yellow, and green industrial pigments online multiple times between April 2024 and July 2025. These pigments were added to foods such as “Three-color Red Dates Cake” and “Corn Rolled Sausage Rolls,” resulting in “intentional poisoning” that led to 247 out of 251 children and 28 out of 34 staff members at the kindergarten exceeding the blood lead limit.
Reportedly, the kindergarten principal, investors, and four chefs were among the six individuals arrested. Another 17 individuals are under investigation, including several officials from the Tianshui City Second People’s Hospital, Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control, Maiji District Education Bureau director, and Market Supervision Bureau director. Additionally, ten officials have been held accountable, including the Tianshui City Party Secretary, Mayor, Gansu Provincial Health Commission Deputy Director, and Gansu Provincial CDC Director.
The public’s response to the investigation results has sparked strong doubts. Netizens commented online that the kindergarten was made a “scapegoat,” and the chain of evidence in the investigation is questionable, such as why the kindergarten did not purchase cheaper and legal food colorants.
Historian Li Yuanhua, who now resides in Australia, told Dajiyuan that every time the CCP handles a major social issue, it starts from covering up mistakes rather than truly seeking the truth. Therefore, it is unlikely to accept an independent third-party investigation, as it seeks to conceal the most basic facts to arrive at a conclusion favorable to itself, causing many netizens and people to distrust their investigation reports.
Former Beijing lawyer and Chairman of the Canadian Mijin Lai said that the authoritarian system of the CCP will not allow transparency of public power, nor will it allow any third-party independent institutions to investigate such public incidents. It seeks to “monopolize all sources of information, monopolize all facts and truths.”
The official investigation report by Gansu authorities also mentioned that the Tianshui City Second People’s Hospital had “chaotic management” and twice arbitrarily altered children’s lead blood test reports, changing abnormal values to normal values; the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control did not strictly review the retests; and the local regulatory system exhibited severe dereliction of duty.
Li Yuanhua questioned why the Tianshui Second People’s Hospital would fabricate data. Hospitals would not voluntarily do so.
He said, “This is the entire government covering up the truth, then hoping the hospital will cooperate with it. This is the routine of the CCP during the three years of the pandemic when so-called CCP experts collaborated with the government’s nonsense. This is the CCP’s usual tactic.”
Lai also believes that this is not just a matter of mismanagement or negligence, but a deliberate collusion of officials for personal gain and corruption.
Lai states, “‘Rent-seeking’ is one of the fundamental characteristics of the CCP’s autocratic regime, where institutional personnel holding public power utilize their power for personal benefits. For example, personnel in hospitals with testing authority will ‘turn a blind eye’ when bribed by unscrupulous businessmen.”
“Now the truth has been exposed,” he said. Local governments made the kindergarten a “scapegoat” to bear the responsibility for the government’s inaction, unilateral pursuit of economic benefits, sacrificing the environment, and endangering the lives and health of ordinary people.
“The authoritarian system of the CCP always seeks to gloss over things, to conceal and hide all its wrongdoings. Therefore, for any natural disaster or man-made disaster, they can cover up and divert attention. If they can’t conceal it, they will find excuses and reasons to downplay it, evade responsibility, and try to sidestep the issue,” he says.
The investigation report by Gansu officials also stated that the province will “fully investigate and handle it seriously without any tolerance or leniency.” Lai stated that for decades, every time the CCP makes promises and pledges on how to handle the issue, it is actually “a typical deceitful and irresponsible statement to manipulate public opinion,” just “a set of words to deceive the people.”
Li Yuanhua also said, “The various levels of the CCP government always speak falsehoods, empty words, grandiose statements, and deceive the people.”
In 2006, a lead poisoning incident affecting over 200 villagers, including 53 children, occurred in Wujiacun, Maiji District, Tianshui City.
Regarding the recurring lead poisoning tragedy in Maiji District, Li Yuanhua believes that the authorities have not genuinely solved the problem. Relevant departments turn a blind eye to the environmental pollution caused by enterprises, which leads to intentional cover-ups and ultimately results in lead poisoning.
“Since it was their dereliction of duty, corruption, and cover-ups, the enterprises that pollute the environment discharge non-compliant wastewater into drinking water channels, all of which are permitted by the government, essentially making the CCP the real culprit, incapable of handling itself. This is the fundamental reason that the problem remains unresolved and repeats,” he said.
He stated that the CCP’s various levels of government cannot genuinely address these issues because the root cause is the CCP itself.