On September 28th, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party, Tang Renjian, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes amounting to over 268 million yuan.
The Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun City in Jilin Province publicly announced the verdict of Tang Renjian, former Party Secretary and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on September 28th. Tang Renjian was convicted of bribery and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
According to the report, from 2007 to 2024, Tang Renjian, in his roles as Vice Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, Vice Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, Standing Committee Member and Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Deputy Leader of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work and Director of the Office, Deputy Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, Governor, Party Secretary and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, provided assistance to relevant units and individuals in enterprise operations, project contracting, and job adjustments. He directly or through others illegally accepted money and valuables from these units and individuals, totaling over 268 million yuan.
Tang Renjian appeared in court for trial on July 25th and admitted guilt and remorse during the trial.
In May of last year, Tang Renjian was investigated during his term in office. Three days before his downfall, he even attended and spoke at the National Rural Talent Work Conference held in Xianyang, Shaanxi. In November of the same year, Tang Renjian was expelled from the Party and handed over to judicial authorities, with his qualifications as a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China terminated. He was arrested in December.
His public resume shows that Tang Renjian, born in August 1962 in Chongqing, started working in August 1983 and held positions such as Vice Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, Vice Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, and Vice Leader of the State Council Poverty Alleviation and Development Leading Group.
In 2014, Tang Renjian was transferred to Guangxi as Vice Chairman of the government; in 2017, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee and Governor; in December 2020, he became Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, Party Secretary and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
At the end of 2022, just before Tang Renjian had served as Minister of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department for less than two years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the implementation of the “Agricultural Management Law Enforcement” from January 1, 2023, and set up “Agricultural Management” law enforcement agencies in agricultural and rural departments across the country.
According to public information, farmers’ farming methods, crop planting, and even the location of drying quilts were all strictly controlled by “Agricultural Management.”
Since then, there have been reports of Agricultural Management personnel acting arrogantly in villages across mainland China, cutting down trees, seizing livestock from farmers, destroying crops, and enforcing policies such as “returning farmland to forests”, leading to grievances among the people.
The so-called “enforcement” by Agricultural Management is likened to “invaders entering the village,” provoking anger from the public, with some farmers resorting to driving away Agricultural Management personnel with large sticks.
Official sources indicate that by the end of 2022, the establishment of Agricultural Management teams at the city and county levels has been completed. The Chinese Communist Party has set up 2,564 agricultural comprehensive administrative law enforcement agencies, with over 82,000 law enforcement personnel on duty.