China: Provincial officials engage in cronyism and debauchery.

On the afternoon of March 22nd, the Heze City Court in Shandong Province, China, concluded the trial of Li Yunfeng, former alternate member of the 18th Central Committee, Standing Committee member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and Executive Vice Governor (Chairman) of Jiangsu Province. Li was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 1.5 million yuan (approximately 5.52 billion VND).

During the trial, the court clarified that from 2003 to 2014, Li Yunfeng, holding positions such as Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Research Department, Director of the Provincial Party Committee Office, Standing Committee Member and Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, and Executive Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province, assisted individuals and groups in securing construction contracts, adjusting planning, and promoting positions. He then directly or through a person with a special relationship (i.e., a mistress) illegally received money from them, totaling 14,770,000 yuan (51.7 billion VND).

Li Yunfeng is the fourth high-ranking official from Jiangsu Province to fall from grace and be imprisoned in China's "Tiger Hunt" campaign since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (October 2012). The three previous officials were: Ji Jianye, Deputy Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and Mayor (sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery); Zhao Shaolin, Standing Committee member and Secretary-General of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee (sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined 15 million yuan for bribery and foreign exchange fraud); and Yang Weize, Alternate Member of the 18th Central Committee, Standing Committee member of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee, and Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee (sentenced to 12.5 years in prison and confiscated 2 million yuan for bribery).

Li Yunfeng, born in 1957 in Jiangsu, joined the Party in 1981 and worked continuously for 28 years in the Provincial Party Committee Office, serving under five Party Secretaries. He rose from a secretary to a position of great power, and was elected to the Central Committee in 2012. After graduating from the Philosophy Department of Peking University in 1981, he was assigned to teach at the Zhenjiang District Party School. From 1983, he worked at the Provincial Party Committee Office and gradually used lobbying tactics to advance his career. In 1993, he became Deputy Secretary of the Jiangyin Municipal Party Committee; in 1996, he returned to work as Deputy Secretary of the Office; in 1997, he became Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee; in August 2000, he also served as Director of the Provincial Party Committee Research Office; in April 2003, he became Chief of the Office; and in November 2006, he became a Standing Committee Member and Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee. Since March 2011, he has served as the Permanent Deputy Provincial Governor, overseeing the following areas: development planning, economic institutional reform, supervision, taxation, statistics, currency, prices, energy, etc.

Rumors of Li Yunfeng being under investigation began circulating in Nanjing during the 2015 Lunar New Year, but he maintained a normal demeanor, even attending a provincial party committee meeting intoxicated on one occasion, which was highly inappropriate. On May 30, 2016, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced that "Li Yunfeng is under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary violations." Four days later, on June 3, 2016, he was suspended from his leadership position.

On April 7, 2017, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a notice stating that Li Yunfeng had seriously violated the Party's political discipline, organizational integrity, and eight regulations of the Central Committee; there were signs of criminal activity. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision reported to the Central Committee and the State Council for approval of the decision to expel him from the Party and remove him from all positions, suspend his status as a delegate to the 18th Party Congress; confiscate all illegal income, and transfer the criminal matter, criminal clues, and evidence to the judicial authorities for legal processing…

Forming cliques,debauchery

According to Caijing magazine, Feng was arrested by Central Commission for Discipline Inspection officers at noon in his office at the provincial government headquarters. The Beijing Daily reported that Li Yunfeng's downfall was related to the private residence of Zhu Yicai, the founder and owner of the renowned Wurun Group in Jiangsu – a place Feng frequently visited for drinking and entertainment.

According to a report on February 10th by China Central Television (CCTV), Li Yunfeng, who worked in the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee for a total of 33 years, held positions ranging from Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee to Executive Vice Governor before his downfall. He wielded considerable power, continuously expanding his influence locally, forming close alliances with many "big tigers" to exchange benefits, and engaging in clandestine power-for-money transactions with numerous businessmen. One of the tycoons closely associated with Feng was the owner of a computer and IT company that supplied computers and software to many key government agencies in the province.

Retired officials living near Li Yunfeng's house complained that during holidays and festivals, provincial officials would line up in long queues outside his gate, waiting for their turn to offer money and gifts in order to seek favors. They claimed that Zhu Wucai, the owner of Wu Run Company and the richest man in Jiangsu, was able to acquire so much land thanks to Feng's help.

Most notably, there was a connection between Li Yunfeng and Zhao Jin, the son of Zhao Shaolin, his former boss and the person who handed over the position of Provincial Party Secretary to him. Zhao Jin was a notorious real estate businessman who owned a private club (a closed-off establishment that only welcomed close friends) in Beijing. Zhao Jin used this place to carry out his schemes to "lure corrupt officials." One of his "dirty tricks" was using prostitutes. Jin recruited a team of beautiful Western hostesses, and after entertaining officials with lavish meals "to foster friendly relations," he arranged for officials to have sexual encounters with these Western women right in the club, secretly filming them to control and manipulate them. Li Yunfeng was a frequent visitor to this place for pleasure and fell under Zhao Jin's control. The Caixin magazine reported that Wang Min, the Party Secretary of Jinan, was one of the officials who frequented this place for pleasure and was filmed by Zhao Jin. When the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection officers checked the security cameras, they recognized Wang Min, which led to his investigation and downfall.

Li Yunfeng also had many mistresses. According to the "Cai Jing Network Translation" website, among all those mistresses, the most prominent was the first Miss Nanjing, who was assigned to manage an advertising company within a state-owned enterprise under the Nanjing Transportation Bureau.