Recently, on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting, an unusual political coincidence emerged in Shandong—the ancestral home of both Peng Liyuan and Ma Xingrui—where both the political commissar and commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District were abruptly replaced.
Meanwhile, Hou Wailin, former chairman of Guangdong Holdings (Yuehai Group), a company Ma Xingrui visited several times while serving as Guangdong’s top official, was also officially placed under investigation around the same time.
The timing of these developments has fueled speculation about the direction of the investigation surrounding Ma Xingrui, as well as the broader political circumstances involving Peng Liyuan and Xi Jinping.
Both Shandong Provincial Military District commander and political commissar replaced
According to a report by the Shandong official media outlet Weihai Daily, on Aug. 4, a meeting was held to appoint the first secretary of the Party Committee of the Weihai Military Subdistrict. Major General Zhao Dongbin, political commissar of the Shandong Provincial Military District, read out the provincial military district’s appointment notice, which added Zhang Haibo as a member and standing committee member of the Weihai Military Subdistrict Party Committee and appointed him as its first secretary.
In mid-July 2026, according to Shandong state media reports, Zhang Haibo was promoted from deputy secretary of the Jining Municipal Party Committee and mayor to secretary of the Weihai Municipal Party Committee.
For the best of our weekly content！
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Check your email to complete sign up
On the surface, the report appeared intended to highlight the promotion of Weihai Party Secretary Zhang Haibo. However, it also marked the first public appearance of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Major General Zhao Dongbin in his capacity as political commissar of the Shandong Provincial Military District.
What is unusual is that almost no basic information about Zhao Dongbin, such as his age or birthplace, can be found online. The limited information currently available on Baidu indicates that Zhao previously served as deputy director of the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Central Military Commission and as director of the Institute of Military Legal Studies at the Academy of Military Sciences. He is now a major general and political commissar of the Shandong Provincial Military District. This has added an element of mystery to Zhao Dongbin.
On July 31, 2026, the CCP officially announced that Shi Huajie had been removed from his posts as a member of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and its Standing Committee, The Epoch Times reported.
Shi, 60, was promoted to the rank of major general in the People’s Armed Police in December 2019. In May 2024, he became commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District; in March 2025, he joined the Shandong Provincial Party Committee as a Standing Committee member. Public reports confirm that he had served as the provincial military district commander since May 2024, according to Iqilu News.
According to CCP practice, each provincial or autonomous-region Party Committee Standing Committee generally includes a political commissar or commander from the corresponding provincial or regional military district as the military representative. Chinese-language media refer to such officials as “uniformed Standing Committee members” (戎装常委).
Under CCP practice, Shi Huajie’s departure from the Shandong Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee would generally also mean that he has relinquished his position as commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District. It remains unclear who will succeed him as commander.
Before the Beidaihe meeting, Politburo study session emphasizes ‘The gun must follow the Party’s command’
According to a longstanding CCP practice, from roughly late July to early August each year, senior CCP officials spend about two weeks in Beidaihe on vacation and/or attending meetings. On Aug. 3, 2026, Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, made a special trip to Beidaihe to “visit” experts vacationing there, signaling that the CCP’s top leadership had entered the “Beidaihe period,” according to The Epoch Times.
On the afternoon of July 30, 2026, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held its 27th collective study session, focusing on what it called “high-quality advancement of the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.”
According to a July 31 report by Xinhua, CCP leader Xi Jinping called on the military to “concentrate efforts on preparing for war and tackling difficult challenges” and to “strengthen the military through political means.” He also emphasized the Party’s control over the armed forces, stating: “We must uphold and strengthen the Party’s absolute leadership over the military… deepen ideological rectification, lay a solid ideological foundation for officers and soldiers to listen to the Party and follow the Party, and ensure that the gun barrel will always follow the Party’s command.”
These statements, which appear forceful on the surface but seem to lack confidence underneath, may remind observers of the CCP’s tendency to “shout about what it lacks”—suggesting that the Chinese military may not actually be listening to the CCP Central Committee or Xi Jinping, and that the military may not be following Xi’s command.
Therefore, Xi’s unusually tough rhetoric on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting also appears to have been directed at the military as a demand or warning.
During this same sensitive period, the sudden replacement of both the political commissar and commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District was clearly no minor matter.
Officials from Peng Liyuan’s hometown in Heze fall one after another
Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan, is from Shandong. Some observers describe her as being in charge of the so-called “Shandong faction.” Peng and the disgraced former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui are both natives of Yuncheng County in Heze, Shandong. Ma has also been viewed by outside observers as a key member of the “Shandong faction.” Following Ma’s downfall, Shandong officials have also come under scrutiny and been purged.
On April 13, 2026, the website of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Commission of Supervision, citing the Shandong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, announced that Xiao Youhua, a member of the Heze Municipal Party Committee, secretary-general, and head of the United Front Work Department, was under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law.”
According to CCP state-media reports, during Ma Xingrui’s tenure as Xinjiang Party Secretary from December 2021 to July 2025, Xiao Youhua, then deputy mayor of Heze, had several close interactions with Xinjiang.
From Aug. 5 to 7, 2023, Xiao, then deputy mayor and Party leadership-group member of Heze, led a delegation to Xinjiang for exchanges and negotiations. The delegation sought to advance the implementation of a modern comprehensive agricultural and food-processing industrial park jointly developed at the Baktu border port in Xinjiang by Shandong Huarui Group, Beijing Xinyuan Hengde, and Xinjiang Tacheng Grain and Oil Group.
On Oct. 24, 2023, a delegation from the Third Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and Tumxuk City visited Heze and held a project investment-promotion and exchange meeting. Heze Deputy Mayor Xiao Youhua personally participated in the event.
It can be seen that Xiao Youhua, who served as an official in Peng Liyuan’s hometown, had unusually close connections with Peng and Ma.
On April 3, 2026, the CCP officially announced that Ma Xingrui had fallen from power. Around the same period, several officials in Heze also ran into trouble.
On April 14, 2026, Xu Xiancheng, a former deputy county-level official of the Chengwu County People’s Congress Standing Committee in Heze, was placed under investigation. On April 8, Guo Gang, a former researcher at the Heze Municipal Justice Bureau, was investigated. On March 25, Song Zili, deputy director of the Education, Science, Health and Sports Committee of the Heze Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, fell from power. On March 21, Zhao Zhong, Party secretary and director of the Health Bureau of Dingtao District, Heze, was investigated, reported the Epoch Times.
Former chairman of Guangdong Holdings Hou Wailin falls from power three years after retirement
According to a July 30, 2026 announcement published on the official website of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Commission of Supervision, Hou Wailin, former Party secretary and chairman of Guangdong Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (“Yuehai Group”), was placed under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law.”
Chinese financial outlet Caixin, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, reported that Hou was taken away by relevant Guangdong authorities in early July. Sources described Hou as outgoing and talkative, courageous, sociable, and closely connected with entrepreneurs. Before his retirement, he reportedly held a certain degree of influence in Guangdong’s capital-market circles.
Hou graduated from the Department of Finance at Hunan University, where he was a classmate of Xiao Gang, the former seventh chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). He subsequently held a series of positions, including deputy director of the Guangdong Securities Regulatory Commission, secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Guangzhou Securities Regulatory Office of the CSRC, director of the Guangdong Securities Regulatory Bureau, director of the Guangzhou Inspection Bureau, and head of the CSRC’s Inspection Corps, according to China Fund.
Following China’s 2015 stock-market crash, Hou was transferred to become head of the CSRC’s Inspection Corps. Around the same time, in October 2015, Fang Xinghai was transferred from his position as director of Economic Division IV of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs to become a vice chairman of the CSRC, a position he held until leaving office in July 2024. Thus, Hou and Fang worked together at the CSRC for nearly a year. On July 24, 2026, Fang Xinghai was also placed under investigation, two years after his retirement.
In May 2019, Hou became Party secretary and chairman of Yuehai Group. He was removed from his position on Sept. 12, 2023. On Oct. 26, 2023, Yuehai Investment Co., Ltd. announced that Hou had resigned as an executive director because he had reached retirement age, and would also cease to serve as chairman of the board and chairman and member of the nomination committee, reported China Fund.
Just three days after Hou was removed as chairman of Yuehai Holdings Group, on Sept. 15, 2023, Chen Bingheng, a deputy general manager of Yuehai Holdings Group, was placed under investigation, according to STCN.
Ma Xingrui visited Yuehai Group several times
Yuehai Group is one of Guangdong Province’s most important provincial state-owned capital investment and operating platforms and one of the province’s largest diversified overseas enterprise groups.
Its businesses include food and biotechnology, water and environmental services, hotels, property management, urban construction and operations, and industrial investment. Its subsidiaries include four publicly listed companies: Yuehai Investment, Yuehai Property, Yuehai Yongshuntai, and Guangnan Holdings.
From November 2013 to January 2017, Ma Xingrui served as deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, and in March 2015, he became secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee. From Jan. 23, 2017, to December 2021, Ma served as governor of Guangdong Province.
Chinese state media reported on multiple occasions that Ma Xingrui visited and inspected Yuehai Group.
On March 27, 2015, the Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao reported that in October 2014, Ma, then deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, inspected Yuehai Group. He called on the group to make good use of Hong Kong’s international business environment, align itself with international standards, and implement reforms.
On June 29, 2017, Ma, then governor of Guangdong, visited Yuehai Group to conduct an inspection and gave “full recognition” to the group’s various areas of work.
According to People’s Daily Online, Ma Xingrui presided over a symposium on the reform and development of Guangdong’s provincial state-owned enterprises on April 30, 2021. Twenty-seven state-owned enterprises attended, with representatives from Guangsheng Group, Guangdong Construction Engineering Group, Guangxin Holdings Group, Yuehai Holdings Group, and other companies, as well as relevant government departments, delivering remarks.
This suggests that Hou Wailin and Ma Xingrui likely had some degree of contact or interaction.
After Ma Xingrui was removed as Xinjiang Party secretary on July 1, 2025, independent commentator Du Zheng wrote in Taiwan’s Up Media on July 27 that, according to sources in Guangzhou official circles, the roots of Ma’s troubles lay in Guangdong. Du cited rumors circulating at local dinner gatherings that after Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin lost his freedom in September 2023, he provided authorities with a long list of senior officials, allegedly including Ma Xingrui.
On July 14, 2026, the CCP expelled Ma Xingrui from the Party and public office and transferred his case to judicial authorities for prosecution. On July 30, former Yuehai Group chairman Hou Wailin, who had retired three years earlier, was officially announced as having fallen under investigation. On July 31, Shi Huajie stepped down as a “uniformed” member of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, prompting outside observers to speculate that he may simultaneously have been removed as commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District. On Aug. 4, Major General Zhao Dongbin made his first public appearance in the capacity of political commissar of the Shandong Provincial Military District, reported the Epoch Times.
Thus, on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting, both the political commissar and commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District were suddenly replaced, while Hou Wailin, the former chairman of Yuehai Group—which Ma Xingrui had inspected repeatedly during his tenure in Guangdong—was placed under investigation.
These developments occurring in such close succession are difficult to dismiss simply as a “coincidence.”
Original article
Comments