China Releases 15 Obituaries of High-Level Officials Over a Span of 34 Days

A man walks past a propaganda poster welcoming the 20th Communist Party Congress meeting, along a street in Beijing on Sept. 21, 2022. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

From late July to late August this year, at least 15 senior officials in China died of illness, all of whom were members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Three people were under the age of 60.

The list of recently deceased include Yu Zeyou, former vice chairman of the China Democratic League; Sun Qiwen, a former party cadre of Tibet; Jia Junde, former deputy party boss of the National Sports Commission; and Lan Li, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the State Sports General Administration.

Former Vice Chairman of China Democratic League

Yu Zeyou, a member of the CCP and former vice chairman of the China Democratic League, died of illness in Beijing on Aug. 18.

China Democratic League is one of the eight legally recognized minor political parties. Under the CCP’s control and lacking genuine independence, these eight parties are essentially political ornaments used to create an external image of a cooperative multi-party framework.

Born in November 1932, Mr. Yu majored in Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum Refining. A former general manager and senior engineer of the Dandong Chemical Fiber Industry Company, Mr. Yu joined the China Democratic League in November 1981, and joined the CCP in December 1983. He had served various leadership positions in the China Democratic League since 1987. From 1997 to 2003, he served as the full-time vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League.

Mr. Yu was also a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC), a member of the Standing Committee of the NPC, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and a member of the Committee on Environment and Resource Protection of the NPC.

Former Top Leader of Tibet

Sun Qiwen, former deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Region People’s Congress Standing Committee, died of illness in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on Aug. 11. The official eulogy called him “an outstanding member of the Chinese Communist Party and a loyal communist fighter.”

Mr. Sun was born in April 1941. He joined the CCP in September 1975 and served as a cadre in Tibet for a long time. In December 1994, he was appointed as the vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government. In May 2001, he became the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region People’s Congress. He retired in April 2008.

2 Sports Cadres

Jia Junde, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the State Sports Commission, died on Aug. 6 in Beijing after a long illness.

Mr. Jia, born in September 1936, had served as deputy director of the Political Department of the 68th Army. Beginning in January 1987, he served in leadership positions in the Party Discipline Inspection Team of the State Sports Commission and Sports Service Company of the commission. He retired in September 1998.

Protesters rally against the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 23, 2021. NTD Television

Lan Li, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, died of illness in Beijing on July 25 at the age of 68.

According to Chinese media, Mr. Lan, as one of the founders of China’s short-track speed skating, has been involved in the preparation and team building of the program since its inception in the 1990s.

He participated in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 as the leader of the national team. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, despite being past retirement age, Mr. Lan led the organizational efforts for the Chinese delegation’s two gold medal events: short-track speed skating and figure skating.

3 Underage Deaths

Zhao Jiufang, member of the CCP Standing Committee of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, died of a heart attack in Beijing on Aug. 6 at the age of 59.

Ye Yizhen, a senior party cadre at Zhejiang International Studies University, died of illness on Aug. 2 at the age of 41.

Senior judge Chen Liru died on Aug. 15 at the age of 50. He was the chief judge of the filing division of the Beijing Higher Court, director of the Beijing Higher Court Office, and a second-level senior judge.

Other 8 Senior Officials

Luo Jianqing, former party secretary and director of the Guangdong Postal Administration, died of illness in Shenzhen on Aug. 23 at the age of 71.

Yang Mingzheng, a deputy departmental-level official at the Anhui Provincial People’s Congress, died of illness in Hefei, Anhui Province, on Aug. 23.

Chen Zhimo, the former director of the Urban Construction Bureau of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, passed away on Aug. 23 due to illness. As a senior official, he received medical and transportation privileges at the department and bureau level within the CCP.

Li Zhonghan, the former chairman of the board of supervisors of state-owned enterprises in Tianjin, died of illness on Aug. 18 at the age of 70.

Zhang Ce, born in November 1926, died of illness in Beijing on Aug. 15. Mr. Zhang was a top cadre at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection from March 1987 to November 1995.

Qi Yi, the former deputy director of the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, died of illness in Sanya, Hainan, on Aug. 13. Born in February 1919, he had served as director of the Aesthetics Research Office, deputy director of the Institute of Philosophy, and party boss of the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in his career.

An Lifu, former chairman of the National Committee of China Finance and Trade, who enjoyed minister-level treatment, died of illness in Beijing on July 27. Mr. An was a representative of China’s first NPC and a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Ning Xueping, a former director-level retired cadre of the Institute of Fiscal Science of the Ministry of Finance, died of illness in Changchun City, Jilin Province, on July 21. He was born in 1928 and served as a researcher and director of the former Institute of Fiscal Science of the Ministry of Finance.