On June 11, Yang Hui, the Party Secretary of the Health Commission of Guizhou Province in the Chinese Communist Party, was placed under investigation. During her tenure in this position, a tragic incident occurred in Guizhou Province involving a bus carrying quarantined individuals overturning, resulting in significant casualties.
The Guizhou Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission reported on the 11th that Yang Hui, the Party Secretary of the Health Commission of Guizhou Province, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” and is being investigated.
At the age of 51, Yang Hui has been working in various roles in Guizhou Province since graduating with a degree in Chinese Language and Literature from Minzu University of China. She has served as an assistant journalist for the Guizhou People’s Daily, a journalist for the Guizhou Population Information Center, Deputy Director and Director of the Office of the Population and Family Planning Commission of Guizhou Province, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Guizhou Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Deputy Director of the Guizhou Health Commission, among others.
In November 2018, Yang Hui was appointed Deputy Director of the Guizhou Provincial Health Commission, and in August 2020, she was appointed Party Secretary of the Provincial Health Commission. It was during her tenure in this position that she came under investigation.
Just before Yang Hui was investigated, from June 3 to 4 of this year, she visited Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Foshan, and Guangzhou as Party Secretary of the Provincial Health Commission to conduct inspections.
During Yang Hui’s tenure as the “top leader” of the Health Commission of Guizhou Province, a highly publicized bus overturning incident took place in the region.
In the early morning of September 18, 2022, a bus carrying 47 people overturned on the Sanli Highway in Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou, resulting in 27 fatalities and 20 injuries. Of the 45 people on the bus, residents of Yunyan District in Guiyang City, who were close contacts of confirmed cases, were being transferred to a quarantine hotel in Libo County, Qiannan Prefecture.
At that time, there were public concerns about the authorities transporting close contacts late at night without considering public safety. Discussions on mainland Chinese social media platforms regarding the incident were intense, prompting officials to hastily delete online comments.
Prior reports highlighted the tragedy of the bus overturning during quarantine in Guizhou, underscoring the heavy cost of achieving zero transmission and how it sparked widespread public opinion, leading officials to urgently delete posts.