China's Education Purge 2026: Ding Xuexiang's Brainwashing Machine and Organ Donation Push

Xi Jinping's close aide, Ding Xuexiang, who is the Executive Vice Premier of the State Council in charge of education, has made the education field the main target for the Chinese Communist Party's CCP clean-up this year. Starting from January 14, the day of the 5th plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, CCDI, many high officials in education have been arrested, including Yang Yu, Vice Director of the Education Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Jin Donghan, President of a famous university, and Wang Yonglin, a vice hall-level official at Guizhou Qianan Ethnic Preschool Normal College, this is not just an anti-corruption movement. It is Ding Xuexiang's bold test after taking over education power, trying to turn the whole education system into a thought stamp machine and a resource supply bank. From corrupt officials going to jail to kids in schools being forced to swear to donate organs, this big political net is tightening around every Chinese family's neck. At the start of 2026, big changes hit the CCP's education system. From January 12 to 14, the communique of the 5th plenary session of the 20th CCDI listed education as a key area for anti-corruption in 2026. This is the first time in recent years that the whole education system was named alone, along with finance, state-owned companies, and energy as big areas for corruption. On January 14, the day the CCDI plenary session ended, the CCDI website posted interviews with some high officials who attended. They stressed keeping high pressure without change, fight all corruption, punish all greed, remove all evil completely. Among them, CCDI member and head of the CCDI National Supervisory Commission team at the Ministry of Education, Wang Chunwen, said about education anti-corruption, quick check, and strict punishment, and deepened fixes and cleanups. These words did not stay just as talk. Almost at the same time as the CCDI 5th plenary session ended, the discipline system responded with real actions to the high-pressure claim. On the same day, Yang Yu, Vice Director of the Education Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Education, was announced to have fallen. Yang Yu worked long in the Ministry of Education, once as Vice Division Chief of the Finance Department, Director of the Special Supervision Office of the Education Supervision Office, and Deputy Director of the State Council Education Supervision Committee Office. The next day, Jin Donghan, former President of Tianjin University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was removed from his position as a deputy to the Tianjin People's Congress, and his name was taken off the list of all academicians in the Academy of Engineering. Jin Donghan was President of Shanghai University from July 2015 to September 2017, Party Secretary and President of Shanghai University from September 2017 to May 2019, and President and Deputy Party Secretary of Tianjin University from May 2019 to January 2025. On the same day, Wang Yonglin, a vice hall-level official at Guizhou Qianan Ethnic Preschool Normal College, was announced to be under investigation. On January 17, Zhang Changfu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the Changzhou CPPCC in Jiangsu Province, fell. Zhang Changfu once was Assistant President and Director of the Party Office and School Office, Head of the Party Organization Department, and Head of the United Front Department at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and Party Standing Committee Member and Vice President at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. In fact, before the CCDI plenary session started, related clean-up actions had quietly begun, with high officials in the education system already falling one after another, setting the stage for this big clean-up. On December 27, 2025, Guo Zuiyi, Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Central South University, was announced arrested. On September 17 of the same year, Ren Yuzhong, Vice President of Peking University, and Zhang Yaxu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former President of Central South University, were announced under investigation. According to public info on the CCDI website, in 2025 nationwide, 44 province-managed or higher college leaders were investigated, involving famous schools like Peking University, Central South University, China University of Mining and Technology, from central-managed colleges to local ones, from party secretaries and presidents to deputies. At the same time, around New Year 2026, high officials in colleges' party and admin changed a lot. On January 12, 2026, China University of Mining and Technology changed its party secretary and president. President Zhao Hongwei was promoted to party secretary. Vice President Zhang Zhishong was promoted to president. In December 2025, Ma Haide, President of China University of Political Science and Law, was promoted to President of Renmin University of China. Hu Wenping, Executive Vice President of Tianjin University, was promoted to President of Xiamen University. And Xia Shi, Deputy Secretary for Party Affairs at Harbin Institute of Technology, was promoted Wang Hongzhou, Party Secretary of Shanghai Ocean University, moved to Party Secretary of East China University of Political Science and Law. Ma Yugang, Vice President of Fudan University, was promoted to President of East China Normal University. Ming Zhengji, Deputy Party Secretary of East China Normal University, was promoted to President of Shanghai International Studies University. In November 2025, Li Xiangzhen, Party Secretary of Northeast Normal University, moved up to Party Secretary of Shandong University. Liu Changsheng, President of Shanghai University, was promoted to President of Chongqing University. Liu Changgang, Party Secretary of Donghua University, was promoted to Party Secretary of Sun Yat-sen University. This wave of cleanups and changes happened at the same time, on a huge scale, never seen before. People outside questioned. After Ding Xuexiang took charge of education, why did the education system change from key building, before, to key cleanup, now? Ding Xuexiang, 64 this year, started his career in Shanghai. In 2007 when Xi Jinping was briefly Shanghai Party Secretary, Ding Xuexiang was promoted to Shanghai Standing Committee Member and Secretary General, becoming Xi's big manager. In May 2013, Ding Xuexiang moved to the center, as Deputy Director of the General Office and Director of the General Secretary's Office. At the 19th Congress in 2017, promoted to Politburo Member and Director of the General Office. At the 20th Congress in 2022, broke rules to enter the Politburo Standing Committee. Then became Executive Vice Premier of the State Council, in charge of development reform, education, science and tech. Overseeing the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, etc. After Ding Xuexiang took charge of education, policies quickly became extreme. Ding Xuexiang stressed in many meetings to firmly hold education's political nature, and asked to make ideological and political class-building the top priority in CCP leading education work. This means CCP education is no longer a place to teach knowledge, but an extension of the Party's will. In May 2024, Ding Xuexiang attended a promotion meeting himself, asking to speed up building a course and textbook system with Xi Thought as the core content. In Ding Xuexiang's thinking, education's only goal is to strengthen forced brainwashing and thought control on students. In the 2023 college entrance exam, the Ministry of Education's Chinese Paper B included Xi Jinping quotes in the essay topic, causing big arguments. In 2024, the Ministry of Education started a standard management year action, strictly banning any anti-party, ugly national image, badmouth leaders' words or actions, putting political checks above school safety. In May that year, the New Era School Ideological and Political Class-Building promotion meeting was held in Beijing. Ding Xuexiang attended and spoke, asking to make ideological and political class-building the top priority, speed up building a course and textbook system with Xi Thought as the core content. In December that year, Ding Xuexiang at the College Party Building Work Meeting again stressed firmly hold education's political nature and promote ideological and political class-building. At the same time, school messes keep happening, strongly pushing pre-made food into schools, donating organs into textbooks and exams. In October 2023, many primary and middle schools in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, including Donghu District, Shanghai Road Primary School, etc. all started using pre-made food in schools. School cafeterias almost all used pre-packaged factory food heated for student lunches, involving tens of thousands of students. Parents found the food mostly factory pre-packed, heated to eat, worried about too many preservatives, flavor enhancers, etc. and bad taste, not enough nutrition, then started big protests in WeChat groups, Douyin and parent forums. Thousands of parents signed to ask schools to go back to cooking on site. After the event was exposed, Nanchang Education Bureau first said meets national standards. But under public pressure, some schools from late November to early December 2023 slowly went back to some on-site cooking. In October 2025, many primary and middle schools in Shanghai had student meal safety scandals. Parents said kids ate shrimp and egg stir-fry in school lunch that smelled bad. Many vomited and had stomach pain after eating. Kids came home sad, even scared to eat school food again. On May 1, 2024, the CCP officially started the Human Organ Donation and Transplant Regulations. Though the rules stress voluntary, no-pay principle, in real life, forcing has become normal. From the second half of 2024, many places' primary, middle schools and colleges asked students to fill out organ donation wish forms, even put these activities into class checks. Forced health checks followed, teen missing rumors spread a lot, involving brain-dead donors rising fast. Online videos show many schools organize students to group swear, join the Give and Receive Volunteer Service Team, join the CCP Organ Transplant Development Foundation's Give and Receive Volunteer Service Team. Not only that, the CCP keeps doing brainwashing ads, stirring students' so-called big love feelings. From 2025, Shaanxi Province Red Cross and Shaanxi Province Human Organ Donation Management Center used kid images to promote organ donation. Ads with title, Let Life Continue, picture of a little boy holding up a self-drawn red cartoon mug, writing, I want to breathe the taste of air. This ad appeared in many bus stops, subway entrances, etc. in Xi'an City. People question, why use kids for the cover? This is not encouraging donation, but controlling feelings. According to Epoch Times report, some primary school kid asked parents after school, can I give my eyes to others, making parents shocked. The parent said she already talked with husband about moving to Canada, worried kid in this environment might have something happen any day. A lawyer pointed out, this might break the minor protection law article. 41 schools' kindergartens cannot organize minors in activities not fit for their age, body and mind growth. Even if called voluntary, without parents' written yes, also involves right to know, image right, and mind protection harm, can complain to education department or start admin review. From forcing political ideas, to tight watch on students' body bio-data through health checks, to promoting organ donation swears, the CCP education system is seeing students as resources to use any way, turning schools into organ supply banks. At the same time, society despair spreads. Young people lie flat, and runaway study become main jobless rate high, inner role and despair mix. Under economy crash, people crisis, CCP rulers are seeing young generation as last, human mind, doing extreme taking. However, education system big clean up and extreme policies happen together, showing CCP power fights cruel and no mercy to people. Ding Xuexiang as Xi's close aide in charge of education, strongly pushes ideological brainwashing, organ donation into schools, but faces full system anti-corruption storm. Is this Xi Jinping, or anti-Xi forces cleaning education system, or the system already at edge of out of control? When even the next generation's body and thoughts are not let go, how long can this system last? In 2026, the bad state of education system, maybe is the last sign of CCP going to end.