By Li Jingyao, Vision Times
Reports surrounding the downfall of former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui continue to widen, revealing a corruption network so vast that observers describe the scope of implicated officials and funds as “jaw-dropping.” New allegations claim Ma was involved in a “plot to seize power,” prompting analysts to argue that anti-Xi forces are now openly signaling a political “kill order.”
With authorities dramatically accelerating efforts to “lift the lid,” Xi Jinping appears to be facing a deepening crisis within the Party-state apparatus.
According to circulating accounts, Ma’s case may extend far beyond corruption. Australian-based scholar Yuan Hongbing revealed in an interview with Vision Times: “When He Weidong was investigated, he confessed that he had reached a political understanding with Ma Xingrui through Ma’s brother Ma Xingquan. As long as a subversive event occurred within Xi Jinping’s regime, He Weidong and Ma Xingrui would form a political alliance to control China’s situation,” said Yuan.
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He added, “He Weidong would provide military power, while Ma Xingrui would provide political and economic power. But no one expected that He Weidong and Ma Xingrui would form a political alliance betraying Xi Jinping. He Weidong’s confession prompted Xi’s decision to take Ma Xingrui down immediately.”
A double-edged sword
Yuan’s disclosure echoes earlier revelations by former CCP Party School professor Cai Xia, who claimed He Weidong and Miao Hua had established a private military force with the intent to seize power.
Commentator Tang Jingyuan, however, argues the reality is more nuanced. “He Weidong’s private army and Ma Xingrui’s private treasury were meant to serve the same goal: helping Xi Jinping regain absolute power, not seizing it from him. They were the most trusted core members of Xi’s inner circle. Ma Xingrui was a leading figure of Peng Liyuan’s Shandong faction, and He Weidong was Xi’s key horseman in controlling the military.”
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Tang added, “All of their power and resources came from Xi Jinping and his wife. It makes no political sense that after only two or three years of promotion, they would suddenly lose their minds and try to seize Xi’s power.”
Anti-Xi camp to execute ‘kill order’
Ma Xingrui’s investigation has reached extraordinary breadth. Anti-CCP commentator Jiang Wangzheng refers to it as the “530 Special Case,” noting that the decision to pursue the probe was finalized on May 30. According to Jiang, the case is being led by Liu Jinguo, first deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). So far, 51 minister- or vice-minister-level officials have reportedly been implicated, with seven vice-ministers detained.
Jiang also alleges that several of Xi’s frontline allies, including Tianjin Party Secretary Chen Min’er, Chongqing Party Secretary Yuan Jiajun, and Hong Kong–Macau Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong, are now entangled in the case.
On Dec. 10, Jiang posted that the CCDI’s unusual decision to republish commentary on the historic Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan corruption cases was “aimed directly at the Ma Xingrui case.”
Just one day earlier, on Nov. 9, former Huarong International Holdings deputy Party secretary and general manager Bai Tianhui was executed. Authorities noted that although Bai had “exposed others’ major crimes” and made “significant meritorious contributions,” these were “insufficient to merit leniency.”
Changing tides
Bai was closely tied to former Huarong chairman Lai Xiaomin, widely considered a proxy for the political network of former vice president Zeng Qinghong. Lai was executed on Jan. 29, 2021.
Commentator Li Yanming argues the timing was deliberate. “As senior members of Xi’s faction continue to fall or face investigation, Bai Tianhui’s execution on Dec. 9 — more than half a year after sentencing — echoes CCDI’s decision the following day to revisit the Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan cases. This clearly releases a political signal.”
He added, “The anti-Xi camp may be signaling a kill order by pressuring already-fallen or implicated high-ranking officials to expose the big tigers behind them in exchange for their lives. At the same time, this may be laying the groundwork for publicly taking down vice–state-level official Ma Xingrui.”
Corruption probes underway
Jiang Wangzheng previously claimed that investigators have identified 300 billion yuan in questionable financial activity linked to Ma. While Ma’s corruption during his years in aerospace, Shenzhen, and Guangdong was reportedly modest, the true explosion of illicit wealth occurred during his tenure in Xinjiang.
Jiang further asserted that Li Xi is also implicated, recalling that Li and Ma worked together for four years and that their wives — Li Xi’s wife and Ma’s wife, Rong Li — “were in business together early on.”
Political analyst Wen Zhao noted that Li Xi — a sitting Politburo Standing Committee member and the current CCDI chief — has failed to appear publicly for nearly two weeks, despite mounting rumors: “His current situation closely resembles Ma Xingrui’s condition several months before his downfall.” The Politburo serves as China’s top ruling body.
Wen said that two upcoming events will determine Li Xi’s political survival:
- The year-end Politburo democratic life meeting
- The full CCDI committee meeting early next year
According to Wen, “The CCDI plenary session is the decisive signal. If the meeting is delayed or Li Xi does not attend, the probability he has fallen will soar above 90 percent.”
‘Lifting the lid’
As Ma Xingrui’s case escalates, the political fire has now spread to Shenzhen. New reports indicate that former Shenzhen CPPCC chairman and current Shenzhen Charity Federation president Dai Beifang is also implicated.
Tang Jingyuan interprets this as a sign that a broader chain reaction is about to erupt, “The number-one high-risk figure is Shenzhen Party Secretary Meng Fanli, another representative of Peng Liyuan’s Shandong faction.” Ma Xingrui’s network extends across critical national nodes, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hainan, Sichuan, the Xinjiang regional government, Beijing’s aerospace sector, and major state industrial systems.
Should Ma officially fall, Tang says, the shockwave to Xi’s family and faction would be enormous: “His case effectively drags half of Xi Jinping’s ‘family-army’ across the Party and government into the fire.”
Tang notes that Party elders are leveraging this core “Xi-faction mega-case” to initiate a sweeping purge across the bureaucracy, mirroring the military purge triggered by the He Weidong and Miao Hua cases. “In last year’s Third Plenum, Xi had already lost control of the military. Then, at the Fourth Plenum, he lost control of the Party,” said Tang, adding, “His personal power crisis is essentially a matter of the past. Now, he faces the crisis of the authorities being forced to accelerate the lifting of the lid.”
Editorial note: This article is based on publicly circulating reports and commentary from independent analysts. The claims described have not been independently verified by Vision Times, and relevant authorities have not publicly confirmed the allegations.
