In a video, Chinese businessman Cai Yunfeng confirms that he published a 30-plus page long report on his Weibo account on September 18, 2022, implicating former Deputy Director of the Gansu Public Security Department, Yao Yuan, and his corrupt police ring. (Video screenshot / The Epoch Times)
Cai Yunfeng ‘jumped to his death’ after sensational report
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A Chinese businessman died suspiciously on Sept. 21, shortly after releasing a detailed report about police corruption.
Cai Yunfeng, a 53-year-old businessman in the hotel industry in China’s northwest Gansu province, died on Sept. 21, within three days of releasing 30 pages of material exposing dozens of corrupt local officials.
While there have been many publicized cases involving the Chinese military, this incident was unusual because it unmasked wrongdoing in the public security system.
Corruption within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at both central and local levels is a fact of life. Analysts say that every corrupt official in China has one or two corrupt businessmen backing him or her. And, like Cai Yunfeng, everyone involved keeps a “little black book” to implicate others.
‘Cai Yunfeng Risking His Life to Report’
In late July, Cai created the Weibo hashtag, “Cai Yunfeng risking his life to report,” and posted that he would shortly release reports and videos of the corrupt local police department led by Yao.
Cai mailed the 20,000-word exposé to China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and other anti-corruption watchdogs.
The report gave information about the former deputy director of the Gansu Provincial Public Security Department, Yao Yuan, and his wife, Lin Mingyu. It alleged that the two were involved in serious corruption, and implicated dozens of officials associated with them.
Cai then made the report available online, along with the names, identity numbers, and phone numbers of those implicated. He indicated that he had released less than one-third of the materials he had compiled and that more information would be forthcoming.
After he posted the materials online, Cai released a video confirming that he was indeed the source of the report.
‘I’ve Lived Another Night’
On Sept. 18, Cai made the report public; the next day, he wrote, “I’ve lived another night.”
Notably, the report survived two days online before being deleted. By the evening of Sept. 20, however, the posts had been removed and Cai was missing.
Hours before Cai’s death, his online interview with a number of reporters had been cut short because “the police arrived,” according to one report.
Local public security bureaus remained silent when Chinese netizens and overseas media questioned Cai’s whereabouts.
Chinese media reports did not confirm his death until Oct. 14. “He jumped to his death from his apartment building in Lanzhou around 4 a.m. Sept. 21,” Caixin reported.
However, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that Cai had made it clear on social media that he would not commit suicide, and that if he died it would be because he had been killed.
Details Lend Credibility to Report
Cai served as a “white glove,” or intermediary for Yao throughout the official’s police career, from the 1990s until Yao died in 2013.
The report described how Yao, his wife, and other police were involved in buying official titles and collecting bribes for job placements, local projects, and other activities. Included in the report were details of at least 12 properties purchased for the couple as bribes.
Adding to the report’s credibility were inside stories such as how Yao’s wife, Lin, bribed the wife of former Deputy Minister of Public Security Fu Zhenghua, in order to arrange work for the couple’s son-in-law.
At a party, Fu’s wife complimented Lin’s jade bracelet. Shortly after, Lin presented Fu’s wife with a jewelry box containing three valuable jade bracelets, including the one she had admired.
Fu was sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 23 on corruption charges. He admitted to taking bribes exceeding 117 million yuan ($16.25 million).
Fu Zhenghua, head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, is pictured during a meeting in Beijing, China, on January 17, 2011. Fu was sentenced to life in prison on September 23, 2022, on corruption charges. (Reuters/Stringer)
The Little Black Book
Promotions under CCP rule always come with a “price tag,” according to historian Li Yuanhua, a former professor at Beijing’s Capital Normal University who now lives in Australia.
“Paying for the promotion … It’s the rule of thumb in the entire officialdom and system of the CCP,” Li said in a recent interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.
“Whether it’s a partnership, a mutual benefit, or … exploitation of the relationship, in fact, everyone involved keeps a book of his own. They are all preparing it just in case it would help to settle issues. No one in the CCP officialdom is trustworthy,” Li said on Oct. 16.
Li said that Cai’s report touched the interest of those in power who are deeply connected to the local underworld. Mafia-type authorities in the CCP determine life and death at will. “It’s not surprising if Cai [was] suicided,” he said.
As “a witness and a collaborator,” Cai said he was not innocent. He was fully aware of the danger involved but felt the time was right, according to the Caixin report.
Shining a Rare Light on Police Corruption
Lin Shengliang, a Chinese dissident living in the Netherlands, told The Epoch Times’ China edition that this case is getting extra attention. While disclosures of corruption in the military are not unusual, Shengliang believes this may be the first such public exposure of widespread corruption in the public security system.
“In the past, we have only seen the military. Large-scale and important cases with clearly marked prices, such as the cases of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Such large-scale corruption cases in the public security system should be exposed for the first time.”
Wang Zhian, a former investigative journalist, analyzed the case on his YouTube channel, Wang Sir’s News Talk. Wang said that all successful CCP officials have one or two businessmen behind them.
These businessmen, while close to the power core that serves as their protective umbrella, are situated at the bottom of the power network. They are “in fact insignificant,” Wang said.
Because Cai was “insignificant,” he could not expect his report to receive much attention from the CCP’s anti-corruption watchdogs. This may have motivated him to share the details publicly on social media.
Chinese social media comments on the incident have been deleted, including Caixin’s Oct. 14 report revealing Cai’s death.
The Epoch Times made several calls to the Lanzhou Public Security Bureau and relevant departments, but the calls went unanswered.
Xiao Lusheng and Luo Ya contributed to this report.