Sunset — The image shows a construction site in mainland China. (Video screenshot)
[People News] Recently, the "Government Leaders" section of the Kunming Municipal Government website in Yunnan Province revealed that Dai Huiming has been appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Kunming Municipal Committee and Secretary-General of the Kunming Municipal Committee, in addition to serving as Deputy Mayor of Kunming and a member of the Party Group. Dai Huiming's new roles replace Yin Lingyun, but the official announcement did not provide any information regarding Yin Lingyun's current situation. Given the Communist Party's usual practices, the lack of a new appointment and the absence of details about his whereabouts likely suggest that something has gone awry.
Yin Lingyun, born in 1974, is just over fifty years old. He has held several positions, including Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Yunnan Provincial Political and Legal Committee, Deputy Director of the Yunnan Institute of Political Science and Law, Deputy Director of the Stability Office, Director of the Research Office, and Director of the Yunnan Institute of Political Science and Law. He has also served as Director of the Stability Office of the Provincial Political and Legal Committee, Director of the Emergency Response Office, Director of the Information Supervision Office, and Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Provincial Political and Legal Committee. In September 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Pu'er Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee. In 2023, he assumed the role of a member of the Standing Committee of the Kunming Municipal Committee and Secretary-General.
Yin Lingyun has connections with the current Secretary of the Kunming Municipal Committee, Liu Hongjian. Liu Hongjian, who is one year older than Yin Lingyun, is from Fuding in Fujian Province, a county-level city under Ningde. Liu began his political career in his hometown of Fuding, eventually rising to the position of a member of the Standing Committee of the Fuding Municipal Committee and Director of the Office. In 2011, he was transferred from Fuding to Xiapu County under Ningde, and in 2012, he briefly served as the Director of the Ningde Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Later, he worked as Deputy General Manager and General Manager at the Fujian Provincial Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd.
After 2018, Liu Hongjian returned to politics and served as Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Nanping City. In July 2020, he was transferred to Yunnan Province as Vice Governor, later becoming Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. During this period, he likely became acquainted with Yin Lingyun, who also worked in the Commission. As an "air-dropped" official, Liu likely received Yin’s assistance. It is even possible that Yin’s later promotion to Secretary of the Pu'er City Political and Legal Affairs Commission was orchestrated by Liu.
In December 2021, Liu Hongjian was promoted to Party Secretary of Kunming. For someone like him—originally from Fujian and rising rapidly through cross-provincial promotions—it is nearly impossible to believe he had no political patron behind him. That patron could only be a member of Xi Jinping’s “Fujian clique.” Xi worked in Fujian for over 17 years, during which he built relationships with numerous officials. Many of them have since followed him to Beijing, including Cai Qi, He Weidong, Miao Hua, He Lifeng, Wang Xiaohong, Dong Jun, and Xu Ganlu. Given that Liu Hongjian also worked in Ningde during Xi’s tenure there, it is highly likely he leveraged connections with Xi or Xi’s faction to advance his career.
Just over a year after becoming Kunming’s top leader, Liu Hongjian brought Yin Lingyun to serve as his chief secretary. The two have frequently appeared together in public over the past two years, and Yin is known to be well-informed about all of Liu’s activities.
Notably, just before Liu Hongjian was transferred to Kunming in 2021, Xi Jinping had parachuted another “Fujian clique” member, Wang Ning, into Yunnan to serve as the provincial Party Secretary. Wang had previously worked at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and, in 2015, was unexpectedly transferred to Fujian as head of the provincial Organization Department. He later held roles as Party School president and deputy director of the Provincial Committee on Institutional Reform. Starting in 2017, he became Party Secretary of Fuzhou, Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee, and, in 2020, Governor of Fujian, holding that position until October 2021. Wang’s proactive alignment with the Fujian clique likely won him the favor of Xi or someone in Xi’s inner circle.
In October 2021, Wang Ning was again parachuted into Yunnan as the top provincial official, also serving as Chairman of the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee. During Xi’s recent inspection tour of Yunnan and Guizhou, Wang was seen accompanying him closely. Naturally, Wang Ning and Liu Hongjian have had extensive interactions.
Clearly, since October 2021, both the top position in Yunnan Province and the top position in Kunming City have been held by members of Xi’s faction. This personnel arrangement underscores the strategic importance of the Southwest region to Xi.
So, if Yin Lingyun is in trouble, will that affect Liu Hongjian and Wang Ning? At the very least, Liu Hongjian appears vulnerable—after all, clean officials are practically nonexistent in the Chinese political system.
On April 8, the CCP held a national inspection mobilisation meeting, launching the fifth round of central inspections under the 20th Central Committee. According to official reports, in addition to regular inspections of 15 provinces, including Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia, an upgraded-level inspection of Kunming City in Yunnan was also announced—a very unusual move.
In a previous analysis, the author noted that since 2024, four former mayors of Kunming—Zhang Zulin, Li Wenyong, Wang Xiliang, and Liu Jiachen—have been investigated. These individuals served in Kunming consecutively from 2007 to 2025, covering an 18-year span. Additionally, several past Party Secretaries of Kunming, including Yang Chongyong, Qiu He, Zhang Tianxin, and Gao Jinsong, have also been investigated. The long list of corrupt officials suggests that the CCP’s anti-corruption campaign has failed to truly intimidate officials and highlights the enormous stakes in Kunming’s political scene. Yin Lingyun, who spent many years in Yunnan’s political circles, could not have been unaware of this.
For now, it appears neither Liu Hongjian nor Wang Ning could protect Yin Lingyun. Is this, perhaps, also a signal? As Xi’s grip on power within the Party and the military weakens, and as central-level officials in Xi’s faction continue to fall or become subjects of rumour, could it be that the local officials placed by Xi are also facing a similar fate?
Article reposted from Dajiyuan
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