Li Xi Disappears Again — What Kind of Drama Is He Acting In?

Illustration: On March 12, 2023, CCP Politburo Standing Committee members Cai Qi (lfet) and Li Xi (right) attend a session of the National People’s Congress. (Noel Celis/AFP)

[People News] It is rumored that Li Xi, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), who is said to be implicated in the corruption case of former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui, appeared at the Chinese Communist Party’s Economic Work Conference held on December 10, only to disappear again afterward. In the past couple of days, his “expressions of loyalty” have once again been absent from Party media. Searching Baidu for the keyword “Li Xi recent public activities,” the latest item is a meeting with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on September 2, 2025. On Xinhua Net’s “Li Xi Coverage Special,” the most recent entry is an October 24 report titled “Presided Over a CCDI Standing Committee Meeting to Convey the Spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session,” and similar wording. On People’s Net and the Communist Party News Network, the most recent report on Li Xi’s activities is his attendance at the Economic Work Conference on the 10th.

Li Xi was recently rumored to have been questioned in connection with the Ma Xingrui case, at the very least being “sidelined.” The Ma Xingrui case has been spreading widely because it allegedly implicates members of the Standing Committee, due to Ma’s alliance with former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission He Weidong, who has already fallen, in an attempt to “rebel.”

Australia-based legal scholar Yuan Hongbing revealed that during interrogation, He Weidong firmly implicated Ma Xingrui, confessing that the two had long privately formed a “post–Xi era alliance”: once Xi Jinping’s power showed signs of wavering, He Weidong would provide military force, while Ma Xingrui would mobilize the political and economic resources under his control. With military and political forces echoing each other, they would jointly intervene and attempt to take control of the overall CCP situation.

Li Xi is known as a die-hard loyalist of Xi, frequently speaking at both major and minor meetings about earnestly implementing Xi Thought. So how could he also be rumored to be involved? According to the revelations, it is because of Li’s intricate ties with He and Ma, which were confessed and substantiated. The CCP has regulations regarding the political and social interaction circles of Standing Committee members. So how did Ma Xingrui, as a Politburo member, interact with Li?

The revelations are shocking. It is said that Ma Xingrui’s methods of accepting and offering bribes were carried out through his wife. Ma Xingrui’s wife, Rong Li, favored any amounts or weights containing the number “4.” For example, custom-made tea boxes concealed 4 million Hong Kong dollars or 440,000 U.S. dollars. Through more than 120 large insurance policies, each worth 6 million Hong Kong dollars, they precisely targeted the children of Politburo members or Standing Committee members, as well as family members and close associates, binding elite families with enormous利益.

Although none of these rumors have been officially confirmed by the CCP, if such things were truly happening, it would not be surprising. Around Xi Jinping, there are traitors and double-dealers everywhere — this is well known. He Weidong, Miao Hua, Qin Gang, Zhong Shaojun, and others — which of them was not among the very core of Xi’s inner circle? Which of them did not loudly proclaim loyalty to “Xi the core, Xi the helmsman, Xi’s new era” right up until their downfall? The CCP’s internal power struggles are more thrilling than Hollywood blockbusters. It is not the case that constantly shouting “the two safeguards and the two establishments” guarantees one will never turn into a Zhou Yongkang–type figure.

Before this, Li Xi had remained out of sight for more than 20 days. This included the two Politburo meetings on November 28 and December 8, as well as a CCDI-related meeting on December 8, at which no arrangements were made concerning the CCDI’s annual work. At the Politburo meetings, anti-corruption was not mentioned as usual, nor was the date of next year’s CCDI plenary session mentioned. Many political observers have analyzed these major anomalies and problems as possibly indicating that Li Xi really did encounter trouble. Even earlier, after the Fourth Plenary Session, other Politburo Standing Committee members and some Politburo members published signed articles in People’s Daily, but Li Xi did not — which was also highly unusual.

However, Li Xi suddenly reappeared on December 10.

Current affairs commentators Li Linyi, Wang He, and others analyzed that Li Xi’s appearance had elements of dispelling rumors and stabilizing public sentiment. The goal was to maintain political stability, requiring him to come out and put on a show, or to temporarily step aside due to considerations involving CCP personnel arrangements and Xi’s face in the He–Ma case. In the news report on the December 10 Economic Work Conference, Li Xi’s name appeared once at the beginning, but did not appear again in the nearly 4,000-word article. Therefore, the true internal situation remains difficult to gauge.

But then Li Xi “disappeared” again. So what kind of drama is this really?

Analysts point out that if Li Xi is not preparing for year-end work summaries, debriefings, or launching next year’s work, then perhaps he really did return to a heap of troubles after finishing his performance.

It is worth noting that Ma Xingrui once again missed the Economic Work Conference on the 10th. This marked his third absence from major meetings following two Politburo meetings, making it seem as though his downfall had effectively been “officially announced.” Radio France Internationale, citing foreign media reports, stated that while it cannot be ruled out that a Party official might miss meetings due to health or scheduling reasons, judging from the timeline of Ma Xingrui’s “disappearance,” the situation is different. In July 2025, the CCP announced that Ma Xingrui was no longer serving as Xinjiang Party Secretary and would receive “other assignments,” but no new post has been announced in the subsequent months. His predicament likely cannot be explained merely as a “work adjustment,” but is closer to a prelude to loss of power amid high-level political purges within the CCP.

The murky CCP political arena — everything is caused by the CCP’s violence and sinister nature. The darker the CCP becomes, the more it worships struggle and killing, the more it enslaves the people through black-box rule, and the more it suppresses reverence and righteous belief, the more its chaos, corruption, and collapse become inevitable.

As for the ultimate fates of Li Xi and Ma Xingrui, the year-end is approaching. According to CCP practice, various tea gatherings, life meetings, and visits to retired senior leaders will be held. Early next year, Li Xi is also supposed to report to Xi. Whether they appear, whether something has truly happened, can be further observed during these activities.

(First published by People News)
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