Wang Dawei, a Member of the 'blood Debt Gang', Has Been Sentenced to Death With a Two-year Reprieve

Wang Dawei, the former Vice Governor of Liaoning Province and Director of the Public Security Department. (Video screenshot)

[People News] [Editor’s note] Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, in an attempt to compel practitioners to renounce their belief in 'Truth, Compassion, Forbearance', many Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death, leading to the formation of a 'Blood Debt Gang' headed by Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong. Over the past 26 years, numerous key figures within the CCP's 'Blood Debt Gang' have faced various forms of retribution, with some even self-sabotaging their own careers. Beginning October 2, 2025, we will publish a series of typical cases illustrating the retribution or self-destruction of key members of the CCP's 'Blood Debt Gang' as a cautionary tale.

Wang Dawei, the former Vice Governor of Liaoning Province and Director of the Public Security Department, is also among the key members of the CCP's 'Blood Debt Gang' led by Jiang and Zeng.

1. Sentenced to Death with a Two-Year Reprieve

Prior to his downfall, Wang Dawei was frequently seen in public wearing a police uniform emblazoned with the badge number 000001, indicating that he was the 'top' officer among police in Liaoning Province. However, this once-dominant figure in the Liaoning police has ultimately met his downfall.

On March 1, 2022, the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reported that Vice Governor of Liaoning Province and Director of the Public Security Department, Wang Dawei, is under investigation for serious violations of discipline and law.

Six months later, on September 29, Wang Dawei was expelled from the Party and his public office. According to a notice on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's official website, "After investigation, Wang Dawei has no ideals or beliefs, has abandoned his original mission, is disloyal and dishonest to the Party, and in order to cover up the issue of 'naked officials,' engaged in fake marriages to deceive the organization... openly sold official positions... leading a corrupt life, with moral decay; he desires to be a high-ranking official while also seeking great wealth, violating laws and regulations for personal gain, and exhibiting excessive greed... accepting huge amounts of property." 

On October 14, 2024, Wang Dawei was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, and was ordered to confiscate all his personal property. After the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, he will serve a life sentence without the possibility of reduction or parole. 

The court found that from 2008 to 2022, Wang Dawei exploited his positions as a member of the Standing Committee of the Harbin Municipal Committee of Heilongjiang Province, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Deputy Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department, Director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department, Assistant to the Governor of Liaoning Province, and Vice Governor. He used the advantages of his power or status to provide assistance to entities such as Liaoning Zhongwang Group, Liaoning Hongyun Investment Group, and individuals like Meng Bing in business operations, case handling, and matters related to promotions and adjustments of positions, directly or through others accepting bribes totalling over 555 million yuan. 

2. What does 555 million yuan signify? 

Wang Dawei is the highest-ranking official in the public security system to be tried for corruption in 2024, with bribes amounting to 555 million yuan. What does it mean to accept bribes of 555 million yuan? Some have calculated this in terms of weight, length, height, and time:

Converting 100 million RMB into hundred-yuan bills results in a weight of 1.15 tons, necessitating a large cash transport vehicle for transport. Consequently, the vast fortune amassed by Wang Dawei would require at least 6 such vehicles to accommodate it.

If over 500 million in hundred-yuan bills were laid end to end, they would stretch approximately 600 kilometres. The total length of Beijing's Third Ring Road is 48 kilometres, allowing for 12 complete laps around it, with some money left over; the Fifth Ring Road, measuring 98.58 kilometres, would allow for 6 laps, with additional funds available for real estate purchases.

A stack of one hundred million in hundred-yuan bills would reach about 80 meters high, while 555 million would measure over 440 meters, comparable to the height of Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower.

Between 2008 and 2022, over a span of 14 years, Wang Dawei averaged 3.3 million RMB in bribes each month, amounting to 110,000 RMB daily—an income stream simpler and faster than that from drug trafficking, human trafficking, or arms smuggling.

3. A Frenzied Greed

Nearly half of the bribes received by Wang Dawei came from Liu Zhongtian, the actual controller of Liaoning Zhongwang Group.

Liu Zhongtian had previously resorted to illegal methods to acquire resources in his business operations. To evade capture, his initial bribe to Wang Dawei was 40 million RMB, along with 4 million USD, which Wang Dawei accepted with pleasure.

According to investigators from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, this money was packed into 22 cardboard boxes, causing Wang Dawei's business vehicle, used for transporting cash, to be unable to navigate the slope to the underground garage. A few months later, Liu Zhongtian presented Wang Dawei with a total of 200 million HKD in four separate transactions in Macau.

Investigators discovered cash exceeding 100 million RMB at the residence of one of Wang Dawei's mistresses in Shenyang City.

In Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, investigators uncovered hundreds of millions of RMB at a residence belonging to Wang Dawei's sister. The investigators noted, "Most of Wang Dawei's money is hidden in Qiqihar." 

Reflecting on his past greed, Wang Dawei remarked, "At that time, I was truly like a madman." 

4. Rampant Sale of Official Positions 

Before Wang Dawei was appointed as the director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department in 2013, his two predecessors—Li Wenxi and Xue Heng—were both deeply corrupt officials. Under their leadership, corruption became rampant throughout the Liaoning public security system. After Wang Dawei took office, the situation deteriorated further. He sought protection from higher-ups while simultaneously engaging in the rampant sale of official positions. 

For instance, Zheng Yunlong, the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau in Liaoyang City, was promoted after being recommended to Wang Dawei by Liu Zhongtian, the owner of Zhongwang Group. 

Following his arrest, Wang Dawei confessed, "Zheng Yunlong, Liu Zhongtian had mentioned this person to me. At that time, he had already bribed me with a substantial amount, and I thought handling this person's case would be a piece of cake for me." 

Zhongwang Group is based in Liaoyang, and with Zheng Yunlong's promotion to deputy director of the Liaoyang Public Security Bureau, he naturally became Liu Zhongtian's representative for interests within the public security system. 

The three former heads of the Economic Investigation Team at the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department and the three former directors of the Public Security Bureau in Yingkou City were also promoted and given significant roles after being recommended to Wang Dawei by business owners. 

When the business owners approached Wang Dawei, it was, of course, money that came first. Each of these promotions was facilitated by large sums of cash.

An insider from the Liaoning Public Security Bureau revealed that during Wang Dawei's tenure as the director of the Public Security Department, the practice of selling official positions had nearly reached a fixed price level. Some individuals could be promoted to the deputy department level based on their qualifications, but without offering money, it would be difficult to achieve this. It is widely rumoured in the Liaoning police community that the starting price for purchasing an official position from Director Wang is 500,000 yuan.'

5. The Blood Debt Owed by Wang Dawei

Since Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the three northeastern provinces have been among the areas most severely affected by this persecution.

After Wang Dawei was promoted to a member of the Harbin Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in January 2007, he became the primary individual responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong in Harbin. From that point onward, he actively followed Jiang and Zeng in their efforts to persecute Falun Gong, demonstrating considerable zeal.

During his time as Secretary of the Harbin Political and Legal Affairs Committee (January 2007 - August 2009), Wang Dawei closely aligned himself with Zhou Yongkang, a key confidant of Jiang and Zeng, who was then a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. Under the guise of the 17th National Congress and the Olympic Games, he repeatedly orchestrated large-scale arrests of Falun Gong practitioners in Harbin, leading to at least 20 deaths due to persecution.

While serving as Deputy Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department (August 2009 - March 2013), Wang Dawei acted as a significant 'political enforcer' for Zhou Yongkang in the persecution of Falun Gong, resulting in at least 45 individuals dying as a consequence of the persecution.

In the nine years he held the position of Director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department (March 2013 - March 2022), Wang Dawei became one of the key 'political enforcers' in the persecution of Falun Gong in Liaoning Province, alongside two other important confidants of Jiang and Zeng—Meng Jianzhu and Guo Shengkun, both former members of the Politburo and Secretaries of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

According to incomplete statistics from Minghui.org, nearly 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning have faced kidnapping, harassment, and sentencing. Specifically, 9,160 individuals have been kidnapped and harassed, 1,178 have been illegally sentenced, and 177 have died due to persecution.

For instance, Sun Min, a teacher at the Seventh Middle School in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, and a Falun Gong practitioner, was recognised as an outstanding educator with both moral integrity and professional competence. She had received provincial-level research grants and authored national-level research papers. Her lesson plans and course materials earned her over ten accolades, including first-class excellent achievement awards and first-class awards.

On June 28, 2016, Sun Min was abducted by officers from the Anshan City Public Security Bureau's National Security Team, who also stole 60,000 yuan in cash from her. While detained in a detention centre, she was subjected to torture after going on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Subsequently, she was illegally sentenced to seven years and transferred to Liaoning Province Women's Prison, where the persecution continued. Tragically, she died as a result of this persecution on March 8, 2018, at the age of 50.

On the evening of July 4, 2017, Falun Gong practitioner Yu Baofang from Anshan City, Liaoning, along with her husband Wang Dianguo and son Wang Yu, were illegally abducted by police from the National Security Team and Yongle Police Station in Tiexi District. The police forcibly entered their home by smashing locks with hammers and prying open doors with crowbars. Thirteen days later, on July 17, Yu Baofang died in the detention centre due to the persecution.

On September 19, 2018, Jin Shunü, a Korean Falun Gong practitioner from Fushun City, Liaoning, was kidnapped by officers from the Xinhua Police Station in Shuncheng District and unlawfully detained at Nanguo Detention Centre. During her detention, she was subjected to severe persecution that left her unconscious. She tragically passed away on October 10, 2018, at the age of 66, under unjust circumstances.

On November 15, 2019, Yu Yongman, a former employee of the Liaohe Refinery, was kidnapped by local police and illegally detained at the Liaoyang Detention Centre, where he was persecuted to death on January 23, 2020. On the afternoon of February 29, 2020, six forensic experts from Dalian conducted an autopsy on Yu Yongman's body. The lead forensic expert discovered a fractured rib and lacerations in his lungs.

On July 19, 2021, Wei Mingxia, a Falun Gong practitioner from Gantun Town in Huludao City, Liaoning Province, was also kidnapped by local police and illegally detained at the Huludao Detention Centre. Just two weeks later, on August 2, she was persecuted to death at the age of 70.

Conclusion

Wang Dawei was already considered a 'naked official' during his tenure as the director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department. What does 'naked official' mean? It refers to someone who has long since moved his wife and children abroad and transferred large sums of money overseas for their enjoyment. Meanwhile, he lives a life of luxury and decadence through manipulation, seeking promotions, making money, and keeping mistresses, all while waiting for the right moment to escape and retire abroad.

However, human plans cannot outmatch the plans of fate. Just as Wang Dawei had amassed immense wealth and was dreaming of fleeing, he suddenly faced a downfall and fell into a deep abyss.

It is only just to repay debts. With so many blood debts owed, how could Wang Dawei simply pack up and leave? 

After his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, Wang Dawei will have to spend the rest of his life in prison.

(Dajiyuan)
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