Yi Zhe Chu | Is there something even more sensational behind the Li Peixia case?

On November 7th, the People’s Court of Hengfeng County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, publicly held the first instance hearing of the bribery case of Li Peixia, the former Party Secretary of Shangfang Township, Wannian County.

The People’s Procuratorate of Hengfeng County alleged that from April 2019 to February 2024, the defendant Li Peixia, taking advantage of her position as Party Secretary of Shangfang Township, Wannian County, sought benefits for others in matters such as project contracting and payment of project funds, and illegally accepted a total of 1.65 million yuan in property from others. The procuratorial organ requested that Li Peixia be held criminally responsible for the crime of bribery.

As soon as the news broke, public opinion was widely concerned, and social media was flooded with posts. Why would a bribery case of a township Party secretary, with a relatively small amount of money involved, attract widespread attention?

An article written in July, “The Father of the Female Township Party Secretary Reports Sexual Assault by the County Party Secretary, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Should Intervene as Soon as Possible” (click on the blue title to read), briefly introduced the details: On July 25th, Li Changliu, the father of Li Peixia, the former Party Secretary of Shangfang Township, Wannian County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, reported under his real name that his daughter was sexually assaulted by Mao Qi, the County Party Secretary of Wannian County. On May 23, 2024, Li and Mao had a dispute, and Li claimed she would report Mao to the Provincial Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission. Three days later, Li was taken away and placed under detention by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission of Wannian County.

A recording released by Li Changliu showed that Li Peixia had a sexual relationship with Mao at Mao’s request while reporting to Mao in his office.

Two other recordings show Mao Qi calling Li Peixia late at night twice, asking her to come to his residence for a chat and tea. In the calls, Li Peixia repeatedly declined on the grounds of illness and said, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to resist.” Mao repeatedly said, “I won’t do anything,” “At most, just like yesterday, just sit for a while.” Li Peixia then said, “I keep my word, anything is fine when I’m healthy”…

Based on these recordings, I judged at the time: “I’m afraid you won’t be able to resist.” This kind of statement easily raises doubts about “sexual assault.” What kind of mental journey did Li Peixia go through? How far did their relationship develop? Was it sexual assault or other illegal and disciplinary violations? The Jiangxi Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission should intervene immediately.

I also said at the time: After the power is out of control, people lose their ability to resist and are unable to resist, which is very scary; after the power is out of control, people not only lose their ability to resist and are unable to resist, but even lose the instinct and awareness of resistance, dare not resist, and are even forced to comply, which is even more terrifying.

These words were clearly written at the time, not after the fact.

Not long after, Mao Qi voluntarily surrendered. Voluntary surrender does not equal surrender; only by voluntarily surrendering and truthfully confessing the crime can it be considered surrender. Those who voluntarily surrender but do not truthfully confess cannot be considered surrender.

At the time, I also had some personal questions: Did Li Peixia’s father publicly report Mao Qi because she explicitly entrusted her father to do so before she was taken away, or did she let her father negotiate with Mao Qi first, and only after the negotiation failed did she take retaliatory action?

This point actually needs to be clarified. If it was a direct report, Li Peixia might have meritorious service, and Mao Qi’s case is not only of great significance in Jiangxi, but also of great significance nationwide, fully qualifying for meritorious service or even major meritorious service. If Li Peixia is not recognized as having meritorious service, then we must look at this officialdom scandal-induced local anti-corruption more calmly.

On August 18th, the joint investigation team of the Shangrao Municipal Party Committee issued a notice stating that Li Peixia was suspected of bribery and was given the punishment of expulsion from the Party and dismissal from public office, and her suspected criminal issues were transferred to the procuratorial organ for legal review and prosecution.

Regarding the relationship between Mao Qi and Li Peixia, the notice stated: After investigation, it was found that Mao Qi had used his power to influence and have improper sexual relations with Li Peixia, and Li Peixia violated life discipline for the sake of job adjustments and promotions.

The news released by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission of Jiangxi Province did not specifically describe the relationship between the two, but only summarized it in one sentence: Mao Qi violated life discipline and had improper sexual relations with others.

Combining the recordings and the above-mentioned official notice, I believe that my early judgment is still valid. There must be improper relations between them, and the woman is very likely to have been forced to comply and wanted to get some “recommendations” in her career.

The opening of Li Peixia’s bribery case disrupted my writing rhythm. Yesterday, I wrote an article “Besides the very impressive museum, my hometown also has a kind of delicious food called fish noodles” (click on the blue title to read). I originally planned to continue writing about the food in my hometown today, but too many abnormal things were exposed in the Li Peixia case, so I had to change my focus to this case.

Some of the unspeakable things in the grassroots officialdom are far beyond our imagination. Rumors say that Mao Qi had other more unspeakable behaviors towards Li Peixia, and neither the court that released the trial news nor other relevant departments in the local area responded. Because of such rumors, public opinion is highly concerned about details such as the lawyer entrusted by the family of Li Peixia in the suspected bribery case failing to meet with Li Peixia smoothly, and the lawyer entrusted by the family failing to enter the court during the trial. Public opinion believes that if the local area does not allow the lawyer entrusted by the family to meet and represent the case, it is very likely that they are afraid of more unspeakable scandals being exposed.

Senior media person Liu Wanyong commented on the above details: The Mao Qi and Li Peixia incident in Wannian, Jiangxi, is an officialdom scandal that is worth dissecting and worth being vigilant about. The Li Peixia case is also a touchstone for the rule of law in Jiangxi.

Many people, including me, have some similar concerns to those expressed by Liu Wanyong in his comments.

The court announced that Li Peixia herself had entrusted a lawyer. Then, whether Li Peixia’s self-entrusted lawyer was voluntary becomes very critical. If she voluntarily entrusted those government-appointed lawyers, the family and the outside world should respect it; because of rumors in the outside world, the local authorities arranged for government-appointed lawyers to take up positions, possibly to cover up more unspeakable truths. If Li Peixia was not voluntary but passively accepted the government-appointed lawyers under pressure, then the above suspicion is equivalent to being indirectly confirmed.

In the past, in order to reduce the interference of local forces in some cases, we often called for some cases to be investigated and tried in other places. This time, I noticed that Li Peixia, as a township Party secretary of Wannian County, had her suspected bribery case tried in another place.

You can check the map. Although Hengfeng County also belongs to Shangrao City, it is adjacent to Guangxin District in the east, bordering Qianshan County in the south, connected to Yiyang County in the west, and adjacent to Dexing City in the north. Wannian County is adjacent to Yiyang County and Guixi City in the east, bordering Yujiang District of Yingtan City in the south, bordering Yugan County in the west, connected to Leping City in the north, and facing Poyang County across the Le’an River.

Have you noticed that although Wannian County and Hengfeng County both belong to Shangrao City, they are not adjacent, with a Yiyang County in between. Then, Shangrao deliberately chose Hengfeng County, which is not adjacent to Wannian, to try Li Peixia’s case, which must have some special meaning.

According to Li Peixia’s administrative level and the not-so-large amount of money involved, her suspected bribery case should normally be tried in Wannian County. If Mao Qi was still the County Party Secretary of Wannian County, then it should of course be tried in another place. Now that Mao Qi has also been removed from his posts and transferred to the judiciary, his remaining poison in Wannian County is being cleared or has been cleared. This case is also attracting nationwide attention. At this time, the public security, procuratorate, and court of Wannian County are not very dare to go against public opinion and help Mao Qi, who has already fallen, persecute Li Peixia. In this case, arranging the trial in Hengfeng County, which is not adjacent, must have other reasons, and it must be to achieve some kind of physical isolation.

The local authorities may be doing this to ensure the fairness and justice of the case, or they may be preventing more truths from spreading in Wannian County.

The relevant authorities in Hengfeng County released information about the trial, but did not emphasize “trial in another place” in the publicity. This unusual low-key approach by the grassroots political and legal organs gives people a bad premonition. Therefore, as an observer, I cannot stand up and say that this time the trial in another place is to ensure fairness and justice.

Public opinion also noticed that the information released by the People’s Court of Hengfeng County stated that more than 30 people, including news reporters, attended the hearing, but so far, no media has released its own news reports, and the entire public opinion field is reprinting the press release issued by the People’s Court of Hengfeng County.

It is also an extremely abnormal phenomenon that reporters attended the hearing but no media published their own reports.

Dodging and concealing easily makes people suspect that there are more dark secrets behind the Li Peixia case, and more sensational things. The relevant authorities should continue to investigate, find out the truth, and positively respond to social concerns.