Li Peixia was expelled from the party, Mao Qi once said she would lose her skin even if she didn’t die.

Recently, the case of a female official, Li Peixia, in Jiangxi Province reporting her superior official Mao Qi for sexual assault and retaliatory actions has garnered widespread attention. On August 18, the official announcement from the authorities in Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province stated that Li Peixia has been expelled from the party and dismissed from her position, and she is facing prosecution.

Prior to this, Li Peixia’s father had revealed that Mao Qi had told Li Peixia, “Even if you don’t die this time, you will have to suffer.” There were also messages delivered to him indicating plans to discredit and blame Li Peixia.

According to the official report released by the Jiangxi Shangrao City Committee investigation team, in June 2023, the Jiangxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision received a formal complaint against Li Peixia, accusing her of financial irregularities and misconduct during her tenure as the Party Secretary of Shanfang Township in Wannian County. The complaint was forwarded to the Wannian County Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision for further investigation.

The report stated that Li Peixia violated political discipline, organizational discipline, and abused her position for personal gains in project contracting and fund allocation, accepting bribes illegally, which constitute serious violations of duty and suspicion of bribery crimes.

Authorities have expelled Li Peixia from the party, dismissed her from public office, and referred her suspected criminal activities to the prosecution for legal proceedings.

The official announcement also mentioned another person involved in the case: “Mao Qi was found to have an improper relationship with Li Peixia by using his influence, and Li Peixia violated personal discipline for job promotion.” The Jiangxi Province Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision is currently investigating Mao Qi for suspected disciplinary and legal violations.

The handling of Li Peixia by the authorities has sparked great interest and discussions among mainland Chinese netizens.

Some bloggers on Weibo commented, “The investigation report explains that Li Peixia, the female secretary, being put under investigation was not due to retaliation by the county Party secretary Mao, but because of a report against Li Peixia by the public in 2023, which was then forwarded to the provincial level and the local authorities conducted a preliminary investigation (although the report did not explain the outcome of the investigation).”

Others suggested that both Li Peixia and Mao Qi might have their own complexities. They questioned what led them to be involved in such issues and concluded that the toxic environment in the organization might have played a significant role.

According to the official report, on May 26th, the Wannian County Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision placed Li Peixia under house arrest with notification delivered to her family within 24 hours. On June 17, the Shangrao City Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced the investigation against Li Peixia.

A month later, on July 25, Li Peixia’s father, Li Changliu, released a video online where he accused Mao Qi of sexual assault and retaliation against Li Peixia.

In the video, Li Changliu claimed that on May 23, Li Peixia had expressed her intention to report Mao to the provincial authorities, but three days later, she was taken away by the Wannian County Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, preventing her from speaking out.

Li Changliu revealed on Weibo, “Before Li Peixia was taken away, Mao Qi directly told her: ‘Even if you don’t die this time, you will suffer!'”

He also mentioned, “After the Jiangxi Province Commission for Discipline Inspection published the report on investigating Mao Qi, someone told me that the public doesn’t care if Li Peixia is innocent. They just want to see her fall and be blamed for everything, and the public would be satisfied.”

According to information from Baidu Baike, Mao Qi, born in March 1982 in Shangrao, Jiangxi, started working in 2003, joined the Communist Party in 2000, and held positions such as Wannian County Party Secretary in Jiangxi Province. This year, the authorities announced the investigation against Mao Qi for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law.” Li Peixia, born in May 1983 in Shangrao, Jiangxi, began working in 2001, joined the Communist Party in 2003, and held positions like the Party Secretary of Shanfang Township in Wannian County.

Public records indicate that during the Wannian County People’s Political Consultative Conference earlier this year, several young women were “elected” to the committee, including local officials and entrepreneurs, many born after 1985 or 1990, significantly younger than Li Peixia.

Moreover, in early last year, several women were promoted to official positions. During Mao Qi’s tenure, more than a dozen young female officials in Wannian County were reportedly promoted.

In a series of leaked phone recordings circulating online, Li Peixia was heard requesting Mao Qi’s recommendation for a job promotion, indicating a potential scenario of favoritism. This raised suspicions of a potential “quid pro quo” relationship between the two.

Qin Peng, the host of “Qin Peng Observation,” believed Wannian County Party Secretary Mao Qi’s rapid rise and fall involved at least five significant figures – his father, two provincial-level officials from Jiangxi, a senior central government official who supported Mao Qi, the Jiangxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, and high-level officials behind the scenes.

Qin Peng commented that according to the Communist Party’s administrative structure, a county party secretary is a cadre under provincial jurisdiction, but as of 2018, Mao Qi was still a city-level cadre in Shangrao. Suddenly, he was appointed as a researcher at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, a position usually hard to obtain even with influential connections. Therefore, it is logical to assume that he had powerful backers within the central government.

Click to watch related videos.