China announced on Feb 23, 2025 that it had expelled two former senior Tibetan officials from Yunnan from the Communist Party after being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and law.” This is the usual vague charge that China levels against everyone subjected to investigations.
The Chinese Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervisory Commission said the expulsion of Qi Jianxin, a former governor, and Jangchup (Jiang Chu), former vice governor, of Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan “seriously violated the Party’s political discipline”, were “disloyal and dishonest to the Party,” and made “illegal gains”. Their biographies indicated that they are Tibetan.
Former Dechen governor Qi Jianxin (left) and Former Dechen vice governor Jangchup (right).
The Commission used similar wordings for both the individuals indicating that there was a connection between the two. It said, “The nature is serious and the impact is bad” and that they, “should be dealt with seriously.” They were both expelled from the Party and public offices.
The investigations into Qi and Jangchup began in early 2024 with Jangchup turning himself into the anti-corruption agency on Feb 29, 2024.
Jangchup (Jiang Chu) (dismissed on May 19, 2024) executive vice governor of Dechen; and Qi Jianxin (dismissed on April 9, 2024), former governor of Dechen, were both dismissed from their government positions in the prefecture after investigations were launched against them by the anti-corruption agency.
The Chinese authorities have hinted at more prosecution against the two as the Commission said their “suspected criminal issues” have been sent to the procuratorate “for review and prosecution in accordance with the law.”
In 2024, several senior officials in Dechen have been investigated by China’s anti-graft agency, indicating either high levels of corruption among Chinese officialdom or of political instability. In January this year, the Chinese state media announced that Che Dralha (Qi Zhala), the former governor Dechen, who was born in Gyalthang, was being subjected to investigation as he is “suspected of serious violations of discipline and laws.” He had been posted to Lhasa in 2017 subsequently promoted as chairman of the TAR government.
Among the present-day Tibetan areas, Dechen is less well known internationally. In an attempt to attract Chinese tourists, on December 17, 2001, the authorities in China renamed the prefectural capital Gyalthang as Shangri-La City (Xianggelila) after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon.