One year after falling from power, former standing committee member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Qinghai Provincial Committee and former secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Yang Fasen, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption involving over 1.47 billion yuan. Yang Fasen previously served as the Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government and the Secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee.
On October 29, at the intermediate court of Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, the first instance trial of Yang Fasen, former standing committee member of the Qinghai Provincial Committee and former secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, was publicly announced. Yang Fasen was convicted of corruption and sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal property was confiscated.
The court stated that from March 2005 to July 2024, Yang Fasen took advantage of his positions as the Secretary of the Party Committee of Yiganqi Township, Aksu City, Aksu City Committee Standing Committee Member and Deputy Mayor, Deputy Secretary of the Aksu City Committee, Secretary of Baicheng County Committee, Secretary of Kuche County Committee, Secretary of Hetian Prefecture Committee, Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government, Standing Committee member of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee, and Secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee, as well as the conveniences and conditions formed by his official powers or positions, to provide assistance to relevant companies and individuals in project contracting, business operations, etc., and illegally accepted a total of more than 1.47 billion yuan.
In October 2024, Yang Fasen voluntarily surrendered and cooperated with the investigation, becoming the 47th central government cadre publicly reported for inspection and investigation last year.
In March of this year, the CPC officially announced the expulsion of Yang Fasen from the party and transferred him to judicial authorities; the prosecution filed the indictment in June.
Public records show that Yang Fasen was born in February 1971 in Gansu Province. He previously served in various positions such as member of the Aksu Prefecture Committee in Xinjiang, Secretary of Kuqa County Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Hotan Prefecture Committee, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and Secretary of the Hotan Prefecture Committee. In March 2021, he was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government.
In October 2021, Yang Fasen was appointed as a Standing Committee member of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee and Secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee. In May 2023, he was transferred to be a Standing Committee member of the Qinghai Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission until his downfall in October 2024.