By Li Jingyao, Vision Times
The downfall of Central Military Commission Vice Chairman He Weidong and Political Work Department Director Miao Hua is seen as the start of high-level purges targeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s military faction. That campaign has now expanded into the Party and government apparatus. Two of Xi’s most critical political pillars, widely viewed as his “heir apparent” and “chief steward,” are seeing their power bases systematically dismantled. Analysts say Xi’s core faction is steadily being hollowed out.
Following the July removal of former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui, who subsequently disappeared from Politburo meetings, the Central Economic Work Conference, and democratic life sessions, multiple senior officials have recently fallen. Observers believe these moves are aimed squarely at Chen Miner, a current Politburo member and Tianjin Party Secretary, as well as Politburo Standing Committee member Ding Xuexiang. The Politburo serves as China’s top ruling body.
RELATED: Cai Qi ‘Warned’ as CCP Politburo Standing Committee Holds Rare All-Day Meeting
A pressure cooker
The first strike against Chen Miner landed in Guizhou, where he once held top posts. On Dec. 30, Guizhou’s Discipline Inspection Commission announced an investigation into Han Jianbo, former Party Committee member and vice director of the provincial Department of Transportation, for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
Public records show Han Jianbo (born 1964) spent his career in Guizhou, holding posts including director and Party secretary of the Chishui River Navigation Authority, head of the provincial maritime bureau, and, from July 2012, vice director of the provincial transportation department.
That same day, authorities also announced an investigation into Kuang Shunhang, former Party secretary and director of the Guizhou Provincial National Defense Mobilization Office, former director of the Provincial Civil Air Defense Office, and former deputy director of the Development and Reform Commission.
Kuang Shunhang (born July 1975, Zunyi, Guizhou) held senior posts from 2018 to 2023, including mayor and Party secretary of Chishui, deputy director of the Zunyi People’s Congress Standing Committee, and deputy head of the provincial market supervision bureau. In November 2023, he assumed his most recent provincial-level posts.
Chen Miner served in Guizhou from February 2012 to July 2017 as deputy Party secretary, governor, and Party secretary. He later replaced Sun Zhengcai as Chongqing Party Secretary in 2017, entered the Politburo at the 19th Party Congress, and was transferred to Tianjin in December 2022.
Commentator Jiang Feng said the cases against Han Jianbo and Kuang Shunhang are intended to reopen the books on the notorious 400-billion-yuan unfinished development scandal in Dushan County, dating back to Chen Miner’s tenure in Guizhou.
Chen Miner retreats
The second strike targeted Chongqing, Chen Miner’s former power base. According to Shanghai Observer, a December 29 meeting was held to mobilize corrective action following inspections by the Central Second Inspection Team. Chongqing Party Secretary Yuan Jiajun emphasized the need to “fully and thoroughly eliminate the lingering toxic influence.”
No individual was named. But Jiang Feng noted that such “subject-less denunciations” in CCP political language usually mean “the person is still alive, still powerful, but already trapped—this is cutting off the escape route.”
The third signal came from Tianjin itself. After pressure mounted, Chen Miner’s tone noticeably shifted. At a December 15 meeting on implementing inspection rectifications, Chen said: “We must demonstrate through concrete actions a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishes’ and resolutely achieve the ‘Two Upholds.’”
Analysts interpret the shift, from “resolutely safeguarding” to “deeply understanding,” as a sign Chen Miner is aligning with Party elders and jumping ship to protect himself.
Finances under siege
Another key Xi ally now under pressure is Ding Xuexiang, Politburo Standing Committee member and first-ranked vice premier. Long regarded as Xi’s “chief steward,” Ding, born in the 1960s, has been widely viewed as a potential successor. Jiang Feng describes the campaign against Ding as a “peeling-the-onion strategy.”
On Dec. 30, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced an investigation into Zhang Shiping, former Party Group member, Secretariat secretary, and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.
Zhang Shiping is a key figure in the so-called “Nantong clique” and a longtime associate of former NPC vice chair Gu Xiulian. Ding Xuexiang is also from Nantong, Jiangsu. Jiang Feng said Zhang’s arrest aims to uncover evidence that Ding’s family leveraged political privilege for venture capital schemes—“empty-handed profiteering.”
Exposing family networks
Sources say Zhang Shiping’s case also implicates Ding Qiming, Ding Xuexiang’s son. After retirement, Zhang publicly endorsed companies linked to Ding Qiming. Further suspicion surrounds the sudden death of Yu Jianhua, a Ding ally and former head of China’s General Administration of Customs. Official notices said Yu died of illness on December 11, 2024. However, independent commentator Cai Shenkun claimed on X that Yu committed suicide in his office.
Cai said Yu’s rise followed Xi’s ascent and was enabled by Ding Xuexiang’s backing. He alleged that massive corruption flows from customs projects benefited individuals tied to Ding. Another blow came on Dec. 19, 2025, when Guodun Quantum announced the death of its chairman Lü Pin, widely rumored to be Ding’s financial conduit in the technology sector.
Additional allegations circulating online include the detention of Ding’s former chief secretary Zhang Hongliang, and claims that Ding Qiming served as an informant for New Zealand intelligence, following similar reports about Cai Qi’s son being linked to foreign intelligence.
With trusted subordinates falling or dying under suspicious circumstances, Xi Jinping’s inner circle is clearly under sustained assault. Analysts say Party elders are systematically dismantling Xi’s “heir apparent” and “chief steward,” stripping away their networks, financial channels, and protective buffers.
As Xi’s remaining loyalists are isolated one by one, attention is now turning to whether Cai Qi, widely regarded as Xi’s most trusted confidant, will be next.
Editorial note: Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vision Times.
