Inner Mongolia: Multiple Senior Officials Removed; Yellow Lanterns Seen as Ominous Sign of “The End”

In recent days, many cities across mainland China have been filled with yellow lanterns, sparking widespread discussion. (Video screenshot / composite image)

[People News] On February 10, Sun Shaocheng, the former Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia who retired four months ago, was officially announced to have had his status as a deputy to the National People’s Congress terminated. He is the first provincial-level chief (“frontier official”) to fall this year. On the same day, four other officials were also reported to be under investigation.

Since the beginning of this year, under Xi Jinping’s personal command, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued racing down the path of “anti-corruption,” with ongoing high-level personnel upheavals in Beijing’s political arena.

The most significant recent shake-up in the military has been the investigation of Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and CMC member Liu Zhenli for suspected serious disciplinary and legal violations. Of the entire Central Military Commission, only Xi Jinping and Zhang Shengmin remain.

In the political sphere, just over a month into the year, at least seven centrally managed officials have already been investigated, including Sun Shaocheng.

According to official announcements, Sun previously held multiple ministerial-level positions, with the peak of his career being Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia from April 2022 to September last year.

Public records show that Sun Shaocheng was born in July 1960 in Haiyang, Shandong Province. He began working in July 1984 and holds an on-the-job postgraduate degree and a Ph.D. in law. Official biographies make no mention of his undergraduate education, jumping directly to “on-the-job postgraduate degree, Ph.D. in law,” exactly the same phrasing used in CCP leader Xi Jinping’s credentials—an astonishing coincidence.

Sun joined the Chinese Communist Party in May 1986, making him a Party member for 40 years. After decades in officialdom, how much of the people’s hard-earned money did he embezzle? The authorities have not disclosed this.

Du Wen, a current affairs commentator now living overseas, said the reason Sun Shaocheng had to be investigated comes down to one phrase: “implicative purge.” The central figure in this chain is Wang Lixia. Sun and Wang were not merely “work partners,” but part of the same system—one controlled the Party apparatus, the other the government; one set direction, the other handled execution. They formed a community of shared interests. Moreover, Sun’s son and Wang Lixia’s son reportedly went into business together, sharing profits.

Du Wen said that after Wang Lixia fell, Sun Shaocheng led the purge of Wang’s remaining faction in Inner Mongolia. Sun worked hard at it, believing he was safe. Du Wen once asked friends to warn Sun to flee while he still could, but Sun thought he would be fine. Du Wen believes Sun failed to see a hard rule of CCP anti-corruption: when either the provincial Party chief or the provincial governor is investigated, the other is almost never clean.

Du Wen added that according to information from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), Sun was criticized for weak Party control and insufficient crackdowns. After succeeding Shi Taifeng, he oversaw only one-quarter as many arrests. Combined with alleged joint corruption and profit-sharing with Wang Lixia, his downfall was only a matter of time. The fall may have come sooner than expected because of the Zhang Youxia incident—Beijing needed a scapegoat to stabilize the situation. For Xi Jinping, Du Wen argues, this does not represent a victory in anti-corruption, but a sign of systemic loss of control and the failure of Xi’s “strict Party governance.”

On February 10, four other officials under investigation for serious disciplinary and legal violations were announced:

1. Xu Delin, former Party Secretary and Director of the Standing Committee of the Baotou Municipal People’s Congress, Mongolian ethnicity, born March 1961, postgraduate degree, MBA, economist, began working in October 1978, joined the CCP in December 1983 (43 years of Party membership).

2. Bao Ye, member of the Party Group and Vice Governor of Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, Mongolian ethnicity, born July 1969 in Faku, Liaoning, law degree from Harbin Normal University, joined the CCP in July 1994 (32 years of Party membership).

3. Tian Xiaochuan, former member of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the Hohhot CPPCC, Han ethnicity, born August 1962 in Longkou, Shandong, postgraduate degree from Inner Mongolia Party School, began working in August 1982, joined the CCP in June 1989 (37 years of Party membership).

4. Bai Zhenying, former Party Committee member and Chairman of the Labor Union of Inner Mongolia Electric Power (Group) Co., Ltd. Online information about Bai is scarce, but reaching a provincial-level power company Party Committee position likely implies around 30 years of Party membership.

These officials, with decades of Party membership, did not become “public servants” serving the people. Instead, they became “advanced elements” on the road to corruption and, metaphorically, to the crematorium. Because the CCP itself is thoroughly corrupt, can officials who rely on its system avoid corruption?

After entering 2026, seven centrally managed officials were investigated in January alone. According to the CCDI, in 2025 more than one million corruption cases were filed, with 983,000 officials disciplined—a record high.

When these officials held power, they were arrogant and exploited the people, including persecuting Falun Gong practitioners who adhere to “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Now, under the banner of anti-corruption, they tremble in fear, knowing they could be arrested at any time and used as trophies to showcase the regime’s “achievements.” Some officials, unable to bear the pressure, have reportedly taken their own lives. Meanwhile, many spiritual mediums have claimed that 2026 will be the final year of the CCP.

In recent days, many major cities across China have been decorated with yellow lanterns. People are speculating that yellow lanterns are traditionally associated with funerals—“Does this mean the CCP is finished?” Some remark: “Coincidentally, China has announced the Year of the Horse mascot as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Death, Famine, Plague, War.” Others say: “It’s sending off the Party-state,” or “This is the unprecedented great change of the century.”

Chen Weiyu, host of “Weiyu Looks at the World,” said the CCP may fear the fulfillment of the “Red Horse Red Goat calamity,” replacing red lanterns with yellow ones to counteract the fire element of the Bingwu year (2026), perhaps advised by feng shui masters. It is said that the last mystic to enter Zhongnanhai predicted: “In the Bingwu year, national destiny ends.” And 2026 is indeed a Bingwu year.

(First published by People News) △