At the just concluded Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), at least 18 military central committee members were absent, including Wang Renhua, a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Central Military Commission. Currently, his name has been removed from the leadership list on the official website of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, indicating that he has encountered trouble.
On October 25th, the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission updated the leadership section of its official website “China Chang’an Net,” and General Wang Renhua, the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Central Military Commission, was no longer listed as a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
In the previous version, Wang Renhua was ranked sixth among the six members of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
Wang Chunning, the former commander of the armed police who was notified of his fall from grace on October 17th, was also a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. On October 18th, Caixin reported that Wang Chunning, ranked seventh among the members of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on the “China Chang’an Net” leadership section, had his name removed.
The Political and Legal Affairs Commission system is the CCP’s controlling hand in maintaining high-pressure stability and persecuting human rights through the public security, procuratorate, and judicial systems. Following the downfall of Wang Chunning and Wang Renhua, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission currently has Secretary Chen Wenqing, Deputy Secretary Wang Xiaohong, and five remaining members: Zhang Jun, Ying Yong, Yan Bai, Chen Yixin, and He Rong.
Public information shows that Wang Renhua, born in July 1961 in Santai, Sichuan, previously served as the Minister of the Defense Department’s Political Department. Wang Renhua was appointed Director of the Political Department of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in 2012, promoted to Major General in 2013; in January 2015, he became the Director of the Political Department of the Army Equipment Research and Purchase Department of the Defense Department until he was transferred to the Deputy Director of the Army Political Work Department in January 2016. Wang Renhua was appointed Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the East Sea Fleet of the Navy in January 2017, promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Military Commission Political and Legal Committee in 2018, and in December 2019, he was appointed Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Military Commission and promoted to Rear Admiral in the Navy.
On March 28, 2024, Wang Renhua was promoted to Admiral in the Navy. The previous two Secretaries of the CCP Military Commission Political and Legal Committee, Li Xiaofeng and Song Dan, were both Major Generals and not promoted to Admiral. Wang Renhua, unexpectedly promoted to Admiral, broke the previous norm.
On May 8, this year, a special seminar for senior CCP political and legal leaders was held. CCTV footage showed that Wang Renhua, the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Military Commission, and Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning were absent. At that time, news of their downfall had already spread overseas.
In the late October Fourth Plenary Session, a large number of military representatives were absent, but the officials did not disclose the list of absentees.
Prior to the Fourth Plenary Session, the CCP Ministry of National Defense announced the expulsion of nine senior generals from the party and the military, including Central Political Bureau member and Military Commission Vice Chairman He Weidong, Central Military Commission member and former director of the Military Commission Political Work Department Miao Hua, former Deputy Executive Director of the Military Commission Political Work Department He Hongjun, former Deputy Executive Director of the Joint Operations Command Center of the Military Commission Wang Xiubin, former Commander of the Eastern Theater Command Lin Xiangyang, former Political Commissar of the Army Qin Shutong, former Political Commissar of the Navy Yuan Huazhi, former Commander of the Rocket Force Wang Houbin, former Commander of the Armed Police Force Wang Chunning.
During the just concluded Fourth Plenary Session, the aforementioned nine senior generals, as well as Central alternate member and Director of the Rocket Force Political Work Department Zhang Feng (Major General), were expelled from the party.
Before the Fourth Plenary Session, Central Committee member and Vice Minister of the Central Military Commission Logistics Support Department Zhang Lin was removed as a National People’s Congress delegate, but Zhang Lin was not expelled from the party at the Fourth Plenary Session.
Among the 11 people who were promoted to the Central Committee as alternate members for the Fourth Plenary Session, four military officers who were originally in line for promotion were skipped. These four officers are: Wang Liyan, Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force; Wang Kangping, Commander of the Joint Logistics Support Force; Fang Yongxiang, Director of the Office of the Military Commission; Shizheng Lu, Commander of the North Theater Command.
These senior generals who have fallen from grace or were absent for unknown reasons were all personally promoted by Xi Jinping. According to official propaganda, all members of the Central Committee were promoted under Xi’s personal supervision. Both He Weidong and Miao Hua started their careers in the former 31st Army of the Nanjing Military Region, while the fallen Wang Chunning, Lin Xiangyang, Wang Xiubin, and Qin Shutong all previously served in the Nanjing Military Region and are considered close to Xi Jinping, who had worked in Fujian.