Ma Xingrui Convicted: Power-Sex Corruption & Trillions of Yuan! Peng Liyuan’s Secret Network Exposed

On July 14th, Ma Xingri, a former party secretary of Xinjiang and a deputy state-level official, was expelled from the Communist Party, removed from office, and had his case transferred to the judicial authorities. What drew attention, however, was not the severity of the punishment, but the charges themselves. Soliciting prostitution, and helping relatives purchase homes at discounted prices. These accusations were mocked as far too modest for an official of his rank, especially when figures such as Xu Kaihu were reportedly offered even their subordinates' own daughters as a means of currying favor. Behind the case are six interconnected investigations involving sums allegedly reaching trillions of yuan. Ma's wife, Rong Li, is rumored to be an insurance queen who specialized in gifting insurance contracts worth millions of Hong Kong dollars to the wives of Politburo members. There's also a tenuous thread leading to Peng Liwan. Will Ma Xingri receive a suspended death sentence, life imprisonment, or merely a token punishment after a public show of severity? And what fate awaits Peng Liwan? Ma Xingri, convicted, soliciting prostitution and allowing relatives to engage in corruption. On July 14th, the Chinese Communist Party reached an internal consensus on the final handling of Ma Xingri's case. According to CCP state media, Ma Xingri had abandoned his ideals, convictions, and political principles, violated political discipline and political rules, indulged, failed to supervise, and exercised lax control over disciplinary and legal violations, or suspected criminal conduct, committed by members of his staff, sought benefits for others in the selection and appointment of officials, violated regulations together with his relatives and friends by arranging jobs for others, accepted gifts and cash, helped relatives purchase homes at discounted prices, engaged in power for sex and money for sex transactions, allowed his relatives to exploit the influence of his position to obtain enormous benefits, brazenly engaged in family-based corruption, and accepted an enormous amount of money and valuables, among other offenses. According to Li Muyun, two of the accusations brought against Ma Xingri by the authorities are rather absurd. The first is that he helped relatives buy homes at discounted prices. This wording practically portrays Ma Xingri as an honest and incorruptible official. Why? Everyone knows that relatives of senior CCP officials have long been tacitly permitted to buy homes at discounted prices and obtain projects and resources cheaply. It is a semi-public benefit enjoyed by high-ranking CCP officials. That, however, applies to ordinary senior officials. Ma Xingri was a CCP Politburo and a deputy state-level official. Those beneath him who wanted to flatter and curry favor with him would probably have had to form a very long line, never mind allowing his relatives to buy homes at discounted prices. Even if you offered him a house for free, he would still have to consider who the gift was coming from. An official of his rank would not accept gifts from just anyone. So does helping his relatives buy homes cheaply not sound rather modest? The second point is that Ma Xingri engaged in power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions. There is nothing unusual about this because CCP officials who do not engage in such behavior could never survive within the system. It is also widely known outside China that even Xi Jinping has six or seven mistresses, including several highly famous entertainers. Ma Xingri was essentially no different. For CCP officials, power-for-sex transactions of this kind are not regarded as anything particularly serious. But here's the ridiculous part. After rising to the deputy state level within the CCP, did Ma Xingri still have to spend his own money to solicit prostitutes? According to information that has been disclosed, after Xu Taihu became vice chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission, CCP Lieutenant General Gu Junshan, then deputy director of the General Logistics Department, personally offered his own daughter to Xu Taihu for his pleasure. Xu Taihu had his fun with Gu Junshan's daughter inside the room, while Gu Junshan happily stood guard outside the door. Conduct of this kind by Xu Taihu and Gu Junshan is what truly reflects the ecosystem of officialdom within the CCP. Ma Xingri was also a state-level CCP official. How could he possibly have needed to pay for prostitutes himself? Even if money had to be paid, Ma Xingri would hardly have been the one reaching into his own pocket. Does that not make the CCP's announcement seem rather unnecessary, and almost suggest that Ma Xingri was relatively decent compared with ordinary CCP officials? Will the sentence be harsh or lenient? After the CCP Politburo announced these allegations against Ma Xingri, differing assessments immediately emerged online. One view is that Ma Xingri may receive a severe sentence. Kai Shengkun believes that Ma could meet the same fate as Wei Fengye and Li Shangfu. A death sentence with a two-year reprieve. Ma's wife Rong Li and his secretary, Li Guanglu, could very likely be sentenced to death. Another view holds that the official characterization of Ma Xingri's case is relatively mild, as nearly all the allegations involve people around him. This clearly suggests that the authorities do not intend to push Ma Xingri to his death. The wording is fundamentally different from that used in the cases of Zhang Youxia, Wei Fengye, and Li Shangfu. Wei Fengye and Li Shangfu were described as having suffered a collapse of faith and lost their loyalty. They were ultimately given a suspended death sentence and life imprisonment, respectively. In Ma Xingri's case, however, the official characterization focuses mainly on economic misconduct and violations of integrity-related discipline. The Xi Jinping authorities have clearly left themselves some room for maneuver. From this perspective, although a suspended death sentence for Ma Xingri remains possible, Li Muyang believes the likelihood is not particularly high. However, because Ma was himself a member of the CCP Politburo, the Xi Jinping authorities also need to kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys, so the punishment is unlikely to be too lenient. On balance, the more likely outcome is that Ma Xingri will receive life imprisonment, have his assets confiscated, and be deprived of political rights for life. Such a punishment would fit the CCP's usual pattern, dealing with the case severely without going to the extreme. It would also serve as a warning to others while preserving a degree of face for Ma's political faction and fellow natives of his home region. Ma Xingri's wife, Rong Li, and his personal secretary, Li Guanglu, however, may indeed face extremely severe punishment, as Kai Shengkun has suggested. They could receive suspended death sentences, and the possibility of an immediate death sentence cannot be ruled out. This is because when the CCP handles cases involving family-based corruption, it commonly imposes comparatively harsh sentences on the relatives of the officials implicated in the case. Six cases involving trillions of yuan. Jiang Guangjiang recently revealed to commentator Li Muyang that the authorities have designated Ma Xingri's May 30 special case as a separate investigation encompassing six individual cases. The first is the case against Ma Xingri himself. The second is the case involving Rong Li, Ma Xingri's lawful spouse. According to Jiang, the combined amount implicated in the cases of Ma Xingri and Rong Li exceeds 1 trillion yuan. The third is the case of Li Guanglu, Ma Xingri's personal secretary and confidential secretary. The fourth is the case of Ma Fengxia, Ma Xingri's fourth youngest sister. The fifth is the case of Ma Xingquan, Ma Xingri's fifth youngest brother. Jiang disclosed that Li Guanglu's case involves 6 billion yuan, while the amounts implicated in the cases of Ma Fengxia and Ma Xingquan each exceed 10 billion yuan. Jiang also revealed that the authorities may handle the cases of Ma Fengxia and Ma Xingquan in the same way. Each would be allowed to retain one home and 3 million yuan, while all their remaining assets would be confiscated. Both also receive three-year prison sentences suspended for four years. In other words, neither Ma Fengxia nor Ma Xingquan may actually have to serve time in prison. The sixth case concerns Ma Xingri's mistresses and Li Guanglu's mistresses. Jiang revealed that Ma Xingri had been involved in extramarital affairs since 1996 and had a total of four mistresses at different stages. One of them was reportedly a female associate professor in the Department of Law at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. She was taken away in November last year and is currently in prison. The official notice stated that Ma Xingri had indulged, failed to supervise, and exercised lax control over disciplinary and legal violations or suspected criminal conduct committed by members of his staff. On the surface, members of his staff appears to refer to his personal secretary, Li Guanglu, and others. In reality, however, it may well be an indirect reference to Ma Xingri's wife, Rong Li, as well as his brothers and sisters. For that reason, whether this case will also expose issues involving Peng Liwan is something well worth watching. Backed by Peng Liwan, what does her political future hold? Before his downfall, Ma Xingri was the leader of the Shandong faction built by Peng Liwan. Ma Xingri and Peng Liwan are both natives of Yuncheng County, Shandong Province. The two families are said to have shared deep ties for many years. Ma later moved from the aerospace sector into politics and gradually rose to become a powerful regional official. His entire political career was built through Peng Liwan's First Lady connection. Ma Xingri always addressed Peng Liwan as his big sister and frequently visited Xi Jinping's home. Ma Xingri allegedly amassed 100 billion yuan in Xinjiang and handed most of the money over to Peng Liwan and Li Xi. Peng Liwan not only built the Shandong faction, but also formed a wives' faction. Its members included Rong Li, Ma Xingri's wife, and the wife of Li Xi, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Ma Xingri and Li Xi worked together for a period in Guangdong. Their wives joined forces in Hong Overseas, they also bought large groups of gas stations and vast tracts of land, generating enormous profits and then channeling benefits to Peng Liwan. Rong Li and Peng Liwan were particularly close. Rong Li was both Peng Liwan's close friend and her white glove, a proxy who handled financial dealings on her behalf. Jiang Guangzheng previously revealed that Rong Li managed and accumulated money for Peng Liwan. In addition, Rong Li did something highly unusual. She quietly constructed an extraordinarily secretive and complex political network for Ma Xingri. According to earlier disclosures by Kai Shengkun, Rong Li gave Hong Kong insurance policies and other insurance contracts issued outside mainland China to the wives and children of numerous serving Politburo members. The scope of the operation and the number of people drawn into it were almost chilling. But there was an even more important detail. Peng Liwan was reportedly present every time Rong Li presented one of these insurance policies. Even when the wives and children of those officials did not want to accept the policies, they did not dare refuse while Peng Liwan was there. According to the disclosures, the least valuable policy Rong Li gave away was worth while the most valuable reached HK$20 million. None of these policies had an expiration date and they could be converted into cash at any time. A policy worth HK$6 million could be cashed out directly for HK$5 million. Rong Li was therefore known as the number one insurance queen among the wives of Politburo members. All of this was inseparably connected to Peng Liwan. In my view, however, the likelihood that Peng Liwan will be directly implicated remains relatively low because the CCP has long followed a tradition of hunting tigers without damaging the roots. Nevertheless, if Ma Xingrui and Rong Li receive severe sentences, it will still deal a major blow to the public image Peng Liwan previously cultivated around the arts and charitable work. What do you think Peng Liwan's fate will be? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you and see you next time.