In China, the "anti-corruption campaign" is in full swing again this year. In China, the crackdown on those who have committed wrongdoing by abusing their positions is referred to as "smashing both tigers and flies." This means "both high-ranking and low-ranking officials are investigated equally." Among the "tigers smashed" since the beginning of this year is Ma Xingrui, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Meanwhile, there has been a large number of investigations involving village chief-level officials, and the number of cases opened in the first half of 2026 exceeded 500,000. This was reported by the Hong Kong magazine Asia Weekly.

According to a recent announcement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, the number of cases opened nationwide in the first half of the year due to "suspected corruption" was 538,000. The number of Communist Party members or civil servants disciplined reached 412,000, the number of bribery cases opened was 19,000, and 1,938 people were transferred to prosecutors.

In the first half of 2026, 50 cadres at or above the vice-ministerial level were investigated, and 74 cadres at or above the vice-ministerial level had their punishments confirmed. Officials at or above the vice-ministerial level refer to those holding positions such as vice-minister in central government ministries, deputy secretary of a provincial Party committee, or vice-governor of a province.

Efforts were also put into "smashing flies." That is, the investigation of corruption among grassroots officials. The number of cases opened for township and section-level cadres, equivalent to Japanese village chiefs, town mayors, or city officials, was 75,000, and for current or former secretaries of village Party branches of the Communist Party of China, as well as village committee directors equivalent to Japanese village chiefs, it was 54,000, with the total for both exceeding 120,000.

Many of the grassroots issues are concentrated on the distribution of benefits close to the public, such as preferential funds for farmers, collective assets, and land expropriation compensation.

Meanwhile, the "biggest tiger" investigated in the first half of 2026 was Ma Xingrui, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The highest leader of the Communist Party of China is the "General Secretary," followed by the Standing Committee of the Party Central Political Bureau, and then by the members of the Party Central Political Bureau. The current Party Central Political Bureau consists of 24 members. This means that a person within the top 24 of China's 1.4 billion people has fallen from power.

Ma Xingrui graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology, was long involved in space development, then served as Governor of Guangdong Province, and later transferred to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to serve as Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Autonomous Region. This position is the "top official of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."

On April 3, 2026, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced that it was investigating Ma Xingrui for "serious violations of discipline and law." Subsequently, as a decision of the Party Central Political Bureau meeting, it was announced that Ma Xingrui would be expelled from public office and stripped of his Party membership, and transferred to prosecutors on suspicion of bribery.

In the first half of 2026, there was also a series of investigations involving police-related cadres.

On June 20, it was announced that Zhu Changjie, a former Party group member and Vice Chairman within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Government, would be investigated. From September 2009 to February 2017, Zhu Changjie served as Secretary of the CPC Committee and Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Department, and was long referred to as the "top official in Xinjiang's police circles." Zhu Changjie became the subject of an investigation on suspicion of wrongdoing approximately eight years after his retirement. In China, the term "Public Security" is used in the names of police organizations.

Police-related cadres whose investigations were officially announced in the first half of 2026 include Mou Zongyi, former Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Department; Deng Chi, Deputy Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department; and He Neiping, a First-level Inspector of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

In addition to these, in the first half of 2026, for two police-related cadres whose deaths were announced as due to illness, rumors circulated online that they had committed suicide. One was Zhang Anjiang, Vice Mayor who also served as Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau Party Committee, and the other was Huang Ruixue, Director of the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department. (Translation/Editing by Kisaragi Hayato)