“They Made Up a Script” – Li Chuanliang Talks About CCP's Ruthless Officials

On December 10, 2020, World Human Rights Day, the Chinese Tyrant Official Reporting and Accountability Center (CTOWC) was officially launched to help victims in China by exposing and punishing CCP officials. Second from the right is Li Chuanliang. (Photo by Xu Xiuhui/Dajiyuan)

[November 8, 2024] Four years after former deputy mayor of Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, Li Chuanliang, moved to the U.S., the CCP suddenly announced allegations involving him in a case worth 3.1 billion yuan (RMB), sparking attention. Li believes this is a fabricated script by CCP officials, reflecting the undercurrents in China and how the CCP system breeds ruthless officials.

On October 11, the People's Court Daily, under the Supreme People's Court of China, used 1.5 pages to publish an announcement from the Intermediate People's Court of Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, about the case against Li Chuanliang, the former deputy mayor of Jixi City. The court stated that Li was suspected of “embezzlement, bribery, misappropriation of public funds, and abuse of power,” involving assets worth over 3.1 billion yuan. Assets totaling 1.4 billion yuan were seized or frozen, and 1,021 properties were sealed after the incident.

Li, now in the U.S., quickly responded to these claims. In recent interviews with various media, he has stated that this is political retaliation and a means for local authorities to target private enterprises for money. He resigned from his public position in May 2014 to start a business, operating legally and compliantly. After three years of strict post-employment audits without issues, he received his passport. He left China in 2018 for medical treatment, not to “flee abroad.”

Unlike other CCP high officials who transfer assets and conceal identities, Li gave an exclusive interview to the Los Angeles Epoch Times shortly after arriving in the U.S. in August 2020, publicly quitting the Party, advocating for private entrepreneurs, and founding the Chinese Officials Exposure and Accountability Center (CTOWC).

On September 7, 2020, the CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced Li’s investigation. Notably, this recent court notice stated that Li was under investigation by the Heilongjiang Provincial Supervisory Commission as of July 10, 2020, two months earlier than previously disclosed. At the same time, mainland media launched personal attacks against Li.

"Li Chuanliang stated that he does not acknowledge the 3.1 billion yuan allegations made by the CCP. He hopes for an open trial in which he can publicly defend himself and explain the details of each asset.

Recently, Li Chuanliang was interviewed again by The Epoch Times, where he focused on discussing the ruthless CCP officials behind this case."

Declared a "CCP Traitor" Following Leadership Anger

Li Chuanliang pointed out that undercurrents in China are related to the complicity of these officials. He learned that after his first public interview with Epoch Times in August 2020, high-level leaders, including Xi Jinping, were indeed furious. Zhang Qingwei, then the CCP Secretary of Heilongjiang and now a vice-chairman of the National People's Congress, reportedly slammed the table during a meeting, saying, “The General Secretary is angry”—the leadership was angry.

He stated, “For an official of my rank, I am definitely a small figure within the CCP. There are so many deputy mayors in China, but even small officials like me, as they say, have ‘extremely bad influence’ on the CCP. During that time, I received many messages; as I mentioned, there were undercurrents.

“In the current situation in China, it is said that officials and criminals are one. Ruthless officials find ways to involve themselves in your case, just as they wish. After I spoke publicly, they began arresting people and explicitly labeled me as a CCP traitor. This allowed them to do whatever they wanted—to fabricate and falsify evidence.”

Li revealed that the political revenge and persecution against him extended both inside and outside China. He exposed political figures such as Jixi City Party Secretary Xu Zhaojun, Vice President of the Heilongjiang Court Wang Chunfu, and Jixi City Public Security Bureau Chief Du Jijun, calling them a political faction. “The real trigger came from Xu Zhaojun. I opposed and reported his various corrupt acts, which offended him.”

Public records show that Xu Zhaojun, former Jixi Party Secretary, was dismissed in August 2014 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for taking massive bribes, adultery, and illegal firearm possession. In February this year, his sentence was reduced by five months.

Jiemian News once reported that Li Chuanliang had reported Xu Zhaojun by name for reimbursement violations related to his family's travel expenses, which led Xu to attempt a “double designation” on Li. However, they eventually reconciled, and Li was soon promoted to deputy mayor.

Li responded that when the inspection team spoke to him, he proactively provided information multiple times, not just once. Xu’s downfall was not solely his doing; there were other forces resisting and exposing his corruption.

“Xu Zhaojun’s first misuse of public funds for travel occurred around July or August 2012, when I was already deputy mayor. He did threaten me, saying, ‘I can’t deal with you now because you’re a deputy mayor, but I can have my men investigate you.’ Because the Party Secretary could only oversee department-level officials, and deputy mayors fell under the provincial supervisory commission, where Wang Chunfu was stationed. So, what handshake and reconciliation? That logic doesn’t exist.”

“A Script Was Made Up”

In late August 2020, two of Li’s subordinates were investigated by the Jixi City Discipline and Supervision Commission. By September, Li was initially investigated by the Heilongjiang Provincial Supervisory Commission. “All their arrests and persecutions were concentrated between September 2020 and throughout 2021; in 2022, they were still arresting people. In two years, dozens were arrested. To fabricate charges, they resorted to torture, especially on some women and patients, which is white terror,” Li said.

In the beginning, friends contacted Li, expressing regret for writing statements in a certain way under duress. Two years later, he had cut off all contact with friends and family in China. When he once called a colleague, they immediately reported it to the supervisory committee, too afraid to speak with him.

“I know that among my colleagues, one died in custody, and three died outside. One of my relatives, my sister-in-law, was tortured into a vegetative state and then thrown out. The psychological trauma is immense for many, and there’s too much suffering…”

Li believes the purpose of such torture by CCP officials was to create crimes and fabricate evidence against him. Even false evidence became rampant—if one piece didn’t work, they would discard it and create another.

“They made up a script and needed to turn you into a criminal. What kind of crime? Economic crimes, which required finding evidence, fabricating it, and finding witnesses. This isn’t new; people were already saying two or three years ago that the script couldn’t be changed.”

The CCP System Breeds Ruthless Officials; Wang Chunfu Long Accused of Corruption

Wang Chunfu, currently the vice president of the Heilongjiang High Court, was accused of corruption early on but managed to engage in both corrupt and anti-corruption activities simultaneously. In 2019, Zhang Zhiquan and Chen Guang, entrepreneurs from Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang, filed a real-name report accusing Wang of corruption. As contractors for the "functional court building decoration project" in Jixian County, they had a dispute with Wang. Wang allegedly hired an assailant who stabbed Zhang’s father, who was working as a night watchman at the Jixian County Waterworks Bureau. There is a record of the report.

They also accused Wang of abusing his position as the deputy chief prosecutor of the Shuangyashan Procuratorate to manipulate court projects in Jixian County, illegally seizing large tracts of land to build and operate a grain depot. When building the Bijiashan grain depot, Wang reportedly leveled an entire mountain, among other things.

Li Chuanliang said he knew these two businessmen and had previously helped bring attention to their situation. The two were outstanding private entrepreneurs and philanthropists who operated a construction company. They worked with Wang Chunfu on a Jixian County court project, which Wang leveraged his position as a prosecutor to secure. After the work was completed, he allegedly pocketed their legitimate profit (project funds).

Additionally, Wang invested over 200 million yuan in the Jixian County welfare depot, and his projects in Baoqing County were also involved in corruption. In China, the most powerful institutions capable of conducting investigations and profiting from them are public security, procuratorial, and judicial bodies, especially supervisory personnel.

"Wang Chunfu's father and brother were killed by business partners over his business dealings. That person was sentenced to death, but isn’t this akin to mafia warfare? Locally, Wang Chunfu was effectively the head of a gang. If one were an honest official or operated a legitimate business, who would kill your relatives? Only when oppressed and driven to desperation would someone risk their life to fight back," Li revealed.

Li added, "Currently, in China, the common tactic against private enterprises is using 'black to fight black,' labeling others as mafia. Once labeled as such, all your assets can be confiscated without a penny left, which is the greatest tragedy for private enterprises in China."

On why ruthless officials rise in the ranks, Li believes it is because the CCP needs to maintain power. Honest people cannot sustain its regime, and upright individuals are unwilling to work for it. As Jixi City Hengshan District Party Secretary Kong Lingbao said, "I can’t serve the CCP anymore." Many people share this sentiment. Only in such a system do ruthless officials thrive, and the system itself is the breeding ground for them. These officials gain power and wealth by disregarding human lives and exploiting others.

He stated that the ruthless officials under the CCP are even worse than those in history. "This demonic force has reached its peak. Today's ruthless officials threaten the people, not just exploiting them but causing immense suffering to the general public. No one considers the people's interests a priority.

"From top to bottom, the system favors ruthless officials. These officials can turn black into white and white into black; they use any means, both legitimate and illegitimate, to fabricate and forge evidence. The CCP can accuse private entrepreneurs, professors, and lawyers of any crime it wants. Only a ruthless official, lacking conscience, justice, or respect for the law, would dare to do this. A ruthless official is devoid of humanity, integrity, and legality."

Editor-in-Chief: Lin Congwen