Legal Guide | So ironic: Those who do propaganda have fallen!

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced today that Zhang Jianchun, Deputy Minister of the Central Propaganda Department, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently under disciplinary review and investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

Zhang Jianchun is from Yuncheng, Shandong, and is 59 years old this year. In his early years, he served as the Executive Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee, then as the Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Central Committee, and in 2020, he became the Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee.

It is not often that high-ranking officials from the propaganda department are brought down in recent years. The last one investigated was the well-known Lu Wei, who was then the Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department. That was in 2017.

After the central government announced that Lu Wei was under investigation, many media people in Beijing gathered for dinner and drinks to celebrate, and many places set off firecrackers. Lu Wei was very oppressive to the media during his tenure, and it was difficult to write and publish articles on public opinion supervision. Many methods have a far-reaching impact.

The wording of the announcement after Lu Wei’s fall was also unprecedented, and he was judged to be “extremely disloyal to the Party Central Committee, with no awareness of the four aspects, and violating all six major disciplines, a typical two-faced person.”

It was finally determined that Lu Wei had received and solicited property totaling 32 million yuan and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Although Zhang Jianchun is also the Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department, he is obviously not as powerful as Lu Wei. However, the primary responsibility of the propaganda department is to promote positive energy. It is too ironic if they don’t believe it themselves or if they are the first to go bad.