By Li Deyan, Vision Times
A political shockwave is reportedly rippling through Beijing’s highest circle as multiple independent sources claim former Xinjiang Party Secretary and current Politburo member Ma Xingrui and his wife Rong Li were taken away by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). Rong is alleged to have acted as Peng Liyuan’s “white glove,” managing more than 7 billion yuan in hidden wealth through offshore and trust channels.
Even more alarming for Zhongnanhai insiders: Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law Wu Long — the man who has personally overseen Xi’s close-protection detail since 2017 — has reportedly been removed by the Central Guard Bureau, signaling a political realignment now reaching into Xi’s inner family security.
Analysts say the developments point to a dramatic shift inside the CCP, with anti-Xi forces now directly targeting Peng Liyuan’s financial network and Xi’s core protective apparatus.
Reports: Ma Xingrui and wife taken by the CCDI
On Nov. 19, X platform commentator Xie Wanjun wrote: “According to reports, Politburo member and former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui has been taken away for investigation by the CCDI.”
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Anti-CCP commentator Jiang Wangzheng said he independently verified the news through three separate systems: Fujian provincial CCDI, the CCDI General Office, and a municipal-level discipline commission. According to his sources, Ma and his wife Rong Li were taken away at around 10 p.m. on Nov. 18.
But the real sensitivity, Jiang says, lies not in Ma himself but in Rong Li’s financial operations: “Rong Li has spent years using the banner of Peng Liyuan’s office to accumulate over 7 billion yuan. This isn’t traditional bribery; it’s the ‘white glove’ model: funds, state-enterprise acquisitions, Hong Kong bridges, and Singapore family trusts. This is how the real elite keep their money safe.”
Jiang also revealed that Ma and Rong’s daughter and son-in-law held Canadian permanent residency, which became a political liability. In 2021, before Ma was sent to Xinjiang, Xi Jinping reportedly confronted him about his children’s foreign status.
Rong called on her daughter urgently: “You must come back. Otherwise your father won’t keep his Politburo seat.” The Politburo refers to China’s top ruling body. The couple then surrendered their Canadian residency — now seen in Beijing circles as a cautionary tale: to keep power, even the next generation’s foreign citizenship must be sacrificed.
Who’s the real target?
Commentator Tang Jingyuan noted that Politburo members are normally extremely difficult to touch, “usually they’re benched with an idle post, not arrested,” he said. The fact that Ma was detained signals that: “This case reaches directly into Xi and Peng Liyuan’s interest core.”
Rong Li is widely known to be close to Peng Liyuan; both women come from Shandong’s Yuncheng County. Ma was long seen as “Xi’s mother Qi Xin’s godson,” informally referred to as “the Xi family’s third son.” According to analyst Chen Pokong, “Rong Li’s funds and Xi family offshore assets in Canada and Australia match perfectly. Investigating Rong Li is in fact investigating Peng Liyuan — and by extension, Xi Jinping himself.”
The implication, analysts note, is that Xi’s authority is “no longer secure,” and this purge appears aimed at dismantling the Xi family wealth system itself.
A chain reaction
Jiang Wangzheng reported that in early July:
- Two of Ma’s “white gloves” flew from Hong Kong to Shanghai and were detained upon landing.
- On July 5, CCDI inspectors stationed in the Central Office took Rong Li into custody.
- From October through November, a string of Ma’s former subordinates in Xinjiang were detained or died suddenly:
- Nov. 3: Xinjiang Corps CCDI Secretary Jiang Xinjun died suddenly
- Nov. 10: Ürümqi Vice Party Secretary Ma Zhijun investigated
- Nov. 11: Xinjiang CPPCC Vice Chair Jin Zhizhen investigated
Observers note that this pattern resembles a “net tightening” around Ma’s political network.
Moreover, Ma’s own career was steeped in sensitive economic dealings, from the Evergrande financial web to bailout orders favoring Xi’s relatives. His behavior reportedly changed sharply after being summoned back to Beijing this year, appearing “visibly frightened” during public events.
3 billion yuan seized
On Nov. 20, Jiang reported that Heilongjiang discipline officials raided four properties belonging to Ma’s brother, Ma Xingquan. These included:
- Nearly 1 billion yuan found in the family’s old house in Shuangyashan
- 1 billion yuan found in a Shuangyashan villa
- Foreign currency seized in a Beijing apartment
- Additional cash recovered from a family-run farm
- Another 1 billion yuan found in a luxury apartment in Harbin
Total cash seized: ~3 billion yuan.
Ma Xingrui, Rong Li, and Ma Xingquan were reportedly transferred to a “special detention center” in Huangshan, Anhui — a repurposed former luxury hotel now used to hold senior officials under investigation.
If Ma is not formally announced as fallen by end of December, Jiang predicts he will be unveiled as the first major tiger of 2026, symbolically used to “shock and warn” officials across Xinjiang, Guangdong, and other politically sensitive regions.
Notably, “money laundering” has now begun appearing alongside traditional corruption charges — an unusual development at the deputy-provincial level. Commentator Tang Jingyuan noted that the CCP is trying to discourage a mass exodus of elite capital by avoiding collapsing its entire ruling class. This has led CCP elites to “kill a few to scare the many,” notes Tang.
A political reshuffling
In what observers call the most dramatic signal yet, commentator Lao Deng reported that Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law, Wu Long, had reportedly been removed from the Central Guard Bureau, the entity responsible for the personal security of top leaders.
Wu Long has been Xi’s closest and most trusted bodyguard commander since 2017. Changes in a CCP leader’s security team are widely regarded as the purest indicator of a regime’s internal stability. If even Xi’s family protection has been compromised, analysts say the force acting against him must possess extraordinary authority, likely surpassing Xi’s own command of Zhongnanhai.
Tang Jingyuan summarized the new reality: “After the Fourth Plenum, it is no longer Xi directing the political cleanup. Another power bloc is cutting down the Xi faction, slice by slice.” Ma Xingrui’s downfall, he argues, is not an isolated case but proof of a fundamental shift in Beijing’s political winds.
With the investigation now touching on Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan, it will also reveal the Xi’s family wealth of networks, a deeper dive into Xi’s brother-in-law and personal security, Xi’s loyalists across Xinjiang and Guangdong. The pressure on Xi Jinping has reached levels not seen since he came to power in 2012. What comes next, analysts warn, may determine the future of CCP leadership itself.
Editorial note: Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vision Times.
