[The Epoch Times, January 22, 2022](Reported by The Epoch Times reporter Li Yun) Due to the large scale of Guangzhoucut down treesstorm quiltAccountabilitythe formerMayor of GuangzhouWen Guohui, was recently “relegated” to Guangdong ProvinceVice-Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The post of the CPPCC is regarded as a place for the “frustrated” in the CCP’s officialdom.
On January 21, the fifth session of the 12th Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference concluded in Guangzhou.The meeting announced that the Vice Governor of Guangdong Xu Ruisheng andWen GuohuiThe two were “elected” in Guangdong ProvinceVice-Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference。
Wen Guohui and Zhang Shuofu, the former secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, because of the large scale of Guangzhoucut down treesstorm quiltAccountability. Zhang Shuofu will serve as the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People’s Congress in the Guangdong NPC and CPPCC.
On January 20, the acting governor of Guangdong, Wang Weizhong, said at the Provincial People’s Congress that the large-scale migration and felling of urban trees occurred in Guangzhou before.
The Guangdong authorities notified on December 3 last year that Zhang Shuofu was removed from his position as the secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, and another appointment was made; Wen Guohui resigned as the mayor of Guangzhou.
The party secretary and mayor of Guangzhou stepped down on the same day, sparking speculation for a while. At that time, many media said that the removal of the two was related to the large-scale felling and relocation of old banyan trees in Guangzhou since the end of 2020.
Guangzhou Big Banyan Tree is a renovation plan of Guangzhou Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau in November 2020. It plans to remove or cut down 4,300 trees, including more than 3,000 banyan trees. In May 2021, the tree-cutting operation was extended to the vicinity of Binjiang West Road, Haizhu District, a famous scenic spot for viewing the night view of the Pearl River.
The renovation project has caused dissatisfaction in Guangzhou and has drawn attention and accountability at the highest levels.
Hong Kong’s “Ming Pao” commentary on December 9 last year stated that, according to the official practice of the CCP, even if the tree felling mistakes, at most the responsible deputy mayor will take the blame, and the mayor will not be implicated. Long before Zhang and Wen resigned, Chen Xiangxin, executive deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Military-Civil Integration Committee, suddenly landed in Guangzhou and served as deputy secretary of the Municipal Party Committee. The shift of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee is more like the “takeover” of Guangzhou by the provincial government.
Zhang Shuofu, who was removed from office, served as the vice governor of Hunan Province, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and became a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection at the 19th National Congress. In July 2018, he served as the secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee.
resignMayor of GuangzhouPosition Wen Guohui, former deputy secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, mayor, and secretary of the party group of the municipal government. He has worked in Guangdong Province for a long time. In January 2016, he was promoted to Vice Governor of Guangdong Province and Deputy Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee. He served as the Mayor of Guangzhou until his resignation in February last year.
Prior to this, the two party secretaries of Guangzhou officialdom had accidents. Wan Qingliang, the former secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, was sentenced to life for accepting bribes in September 2016; Ren Xuefeng, the former secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, died mysteriously during the Fourth Plenary Session of the Central Committee in October 2019.
In addition, the CPPCC is regarded as a place for the “frustrated” in the CCP’s officialdom. Since 2021, senior officials including Tang Liangzhi, the former mayor of Chongqing, Yang Yue, a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and Wulan, the full-time deputy secretary of Hunan, have all been demoted to idle positions in the CPPCC.
Current affairs commentator Yue Shan once analyzed that the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress are one of the main destinations for officials at all levels to retreat to the second-tier after resigning from party and government positions.
Responsible editor: Li Qiong#