6 Prominent CCP Members Reportedly Died of Illness Within 9 Days

A dead person on a gurney at Tianjin First Center Hospital in Tianjin, China, on Dec. 28, 2022. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

Six high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members reportedly died of illness between March 17 and 25.

These individuals include the provincial leaders of the rubber-stamp legislative conferences, a business mogul, an army commander, and the former deputy editor-in-chief of CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily.

The reports coincide with a significant rise in the number of deaths among Party officials reported by local governments and state-owned organizations amid a surge in pneumonia cases in China.

Provincial Senior Official

According to an official release, Wang Jun—deputy director of the Department of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism of Zhejiang Province and a member of the provincial party committee—died on March 25 at the age of 52 due to illness. He was also deputy secretary-general of the Sichuan provincial government.

Mr. Jun, born in January 1972, served as deputy governor and minister of the Organization Department of Yunhe county, Zhejiang Province. He was also the Party chief and secretary of the Committee of Political and Legal Affairs of Jinyun county in the same province.

‘Patriotic Businessman’

Li Sau Hung—chairman of the Campell Group, president of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Association, and executive director of the Hong Kong Federation of Literary and Art Circles—passed away on March 25 at the age of 70. According to official media, the watchmaking tycoon suffered a stroke and was hospitalized three weeks ago.

State media The Paper praised Mr. Li as a “patriotic businessman” for his leading role in the CCP’s United Front Work Department—a political organization whose goal is to expand the CCP’s influence among elite individuals and groups—in Hong Kong. He served as the executive director of the China Overseas Friendship Association, the executive director of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, and the vice president of the Chinese Importers’ and Exporters’ Association of Hong Kong. He was also a former member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The Campbell Group, founded by Mr. Li, has a wide-ranging business that includes watch manufacturing, watch parts trading, electronics, transportation, finance, and real estate. He also led several listed companies in Hong Kong. He was appointed as a visiting professor by Xi'an Jiaotong University, Southwest Jiaotong University, Capital University of Economics and Trade, and Beijing School of Economics. He was also a consultant for the China Business Program at Hong Kong Baptist University and City University.

Military Official

Liu Chengzhai, former deputy commander of the 38th Army, died on March 22 due to illness in Baoding, Hebei Province.

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Mr. Liu, born in November 1926, joined the Eighth Route Army at age 15. In October 1950, he fought in North Korea and was an instructor in the 2nd Battalion of the 335th Regiment of the 112th Division of the 38th Army. In 1979, he became the deputy commander of the 38th Army.

‘Loyal’ Communists

Gao Shizhen, vice-chairwoman of the Seventh Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Tibet, passed away on March 20 due to illness. The official obituary described Ms. Gao as “an outstanding CCP member and a loyal fighter for communism.”

Ms. Gao, born in December 1939, has served as the deputy director of the Women’s Federation of the Tibet Autonomous Region, deputy director of the Lhasa Municipal Revolutionary Committee, deputy secretary of the Lhasa Municipal Party Committee, deputy mayor of Lhasa, director of the Lhasa Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, and party chief of Lhasa.

Xu Jianchun, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of Shandong Provincial People’s Congress, passed away on March 17 from illness. She was “an excellent member of the Chinese Communist Party and a loyal soldier of communism,” the official eulogy said.

Ms. Xu, born in March 1935, is a native of Laizhou, Shandong. She has served as a member of the Shandong Provincial Revolutionary Committee, a leading member of the work group of the Political Department, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the province’s rubber-stamp legislature, and a member of the Party Committee; she retired in December 2003.

Former Chief of People’s Daily 

Lu Chaoqi, former deputy editor-in-chief of the People’s Daily, died on March 19 in Beijing after a prolonged illness.

Born in 1925, Mr. Lu actively participated in CCP student organizations while studying at Beijing University and later became a covert member of the Party. He served as a reporter for the People’s Daily, covering the war in North Korea. Over time, he advanced through various roles, including editor, commentator, and director of the editorial office, eventually becoming the deputy editor-in-chief.

During the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, when Qian Liren, then president of People’s Daily, and Tan Wenrui, then editor-in-chief, both took sick leave, Mr. Lu took charge of the newspaper until he retired.