The Mystery of the Vice Mayor of Wugang's "Suicide"
Liu Yuehong subsequently largely accepted her husband's explanation of suicide. When communicating with relatives, she repeatedly expressed that "I need to consider my child's future," while another part of the family was emotionally agitated and strongly questioned the conclusion of suicide.
Reported by Chen Anqing of The Eastern Outlook Weekly from Wugang, Hunan — On December 1st, at the funeral of Yang Kuansheng, Vice Mayor of Wugang City, in Matouqiao Township, Xinning County, Hunan Province, it was time for Yang Kuansheng’s body to be taken “up the mountain” for burial.
Just as they were about to go “up the mountain,” some villagers wearing clothes with the character for “injustice” on their backs surrounded Yang’s altar, making it impassable. Yang’s cousin sat on the coffin lid, grabbed the microphone, and shouted: “Seek justice for Mayor Yang!” The surrounding villagers all echoed his words in agreement.
Four days earlier, at dawn, Yang Kuansheng, Executive Vice Mayor of Wugang City, fell from a dormitory building. His 47-year-old life ended on the hard cement ground. Despite the local authorities quickly concluding that Yang Kuansheng had committed suicide due to depression, the doubts surrounding his death have yet to dissipate.
Yang Kuansheng’s death showed no signs beforehand.
At 6:00 AM on November 26th, a loud noise came from the residential area within the armed forces department compound of Wugang City. When the residents of Unit 3 went out to check, they found Yang Kuansheng, who lived on the third floor, lying on the cement ground. At 5:55 AM, the police received an alarm call and arrived at the scene 13 minutes later.
Yang Kuansheng was immediately sent to the local People's Hospital but was later declared dead.
Tang Liyun learned of this news around 7:00 AM, when her husband called her to say that her brother-in-law, Yang Kuansheng, had died. That day, Yang Kuansheng’s wife, Liu Yuehong, rushed from Shaoyang City to Wugang. Except for Liu Yuehong, other relatives were not allowed into the scene.
The residential area where Yang lived, located within the armed forces department compound of Wugang City, has four floors. This slightly old family building is less than 200 meters from the municipal government compound and less than 500 meters from the Public Security Bureau.
Yang’s neighbor said that at 5:00 AM that morning, he suddenly heard a loud noise and thought there might be a thief at Yang’s house, so he shouted to catch the thief. However, Yang’s phone could not be connected, and after getting up, he noticed that there was light in Yang’s room. Later, the neighbor discovered Yang’s body on the first floor.
Some neighbors went inside Yang Kuansheng’s home to check and found the door wide open with blood stains on the ground.
Tang Liyun learned from the forensic pathologist involved in the autopsy that Yang Kuansheng had two large bruises on his waist, approximately 200 milliliters, a handprint on his back, a severed wrist, and three or four knife marks on his neck. In addition, Yang Kuansheng had abrasions on his back and both shoulders, and three ribs on his left chest were broken. Based on this, the family believed that Yang Kuansheng’s cause of death was homicide.
On the same day at 11:00 AM, Yang Kuansheng’s cousin, Lu Kaihong, rushed to Wugang. During the autopsy, Lu Kaihong saw his deceased cousin.
“I was very surprised when I saw his wounds,” Lu Kaihong told The Eastern Outlook Weekly. According to Lu, Yang Kuansheng had a neat cut on the back of his head, “If he had fallen to the ground, that wound would definitely have split open.”
Yang’s left hand was black, and his wrist was deeply cut, “The tendons connecting his fingers were severed, which cannot be cut through with an ordinary knife. There were at least five cuts on his left hand.”
At 10:00 AM on November 28th, Yang Kuansheng’s family set up an altar at the municipal government office. However, the altar only lasted for four hours before it was removed, with the official explanation being that the “family requested to hold the ceremony in their hometown.” Tang Liyun, however, revealed to our reporter that “Yang’s family and neighbors originally planned to march, but the government feared the incident would escalate, so they decided to transport the body back to the hometown.”
At Yang’s funeral, various departments of Wugang City all offered wreaths. But the conflict escalated continuously, and Yang Kuansheng was ultimately unable to be buried according to the original plan.
December 1st was supposed to be the day for the funeral procession, but under the insistence of relatives, Yang’s coffin did not move even half a step out of the Yang family.
In a prominent place at the altar, a poem containing the characters “Kuan Sheng” was displayed, and on the dining table, the white background with black characters reading “Unjust” was visible everywhere. Nearby, in the already harvested rice fields, banners such as “Severely Punish the Murderer,” “Clarify the Truth,” and “Seek Justice for Mayor Yang” were particularly eye-catching.
“Had a strong determination to die”
Tang Liyun told our reporter that Yang’s wife, Liu Yuehong, had her last conversation with Yang Kuansheng at 9:36 PM on November 25th. Tang Liyun claimed that afterward, according to Yang’s neighbors who informed her, Yang Kuansheng returned home around 10:00 PM that night. Around 12:00 AM, neighbors heard knocking sounds coming from his house, and the lights were still on until 4:00 AM.
On November 24th, Yang Kuansheng attended the mayor’s office meeting in Wugang City, and on the 25th, he went to Shaoyang to attend another mayor’s office meeting, which lasted more than two hours, during which no one noticed anything unusual.
Regarding these doubts, Director Kang Wenxiang of the Wugang Public Security Bureau explained that all these injuries were self-inflicted by Yang Kuansheng before jumping off the building. He attempted suicide by cutting his wrist, which failed, leading him to jump off the building. Yang Kuansheng had been suffering from depression for half a year.
“Yang Kuansheng used three types of tools for his suicide attempt: kitchen knives, fruit knives, and scissors. The deceased had a strong determination to die, choosing multiple methods of suicide like jumping off the building and electrocution, eventually falling to his death from the third floor,” Kang Wenxiang told The Eastern Outlook Weekly, “The investigation into Yang Kuansheng’s suicide case has concluded, and it can withstand the test of history.”
Kang Wenxiang stated that after the incident involving Yang Kuansheng, because of his special identity, provincial and municipal leaders paid great attention. “The entire investigation was divided into three parts: on-site examination, interviews, and autopsy. Police not only conducted investigations at the armed forces department dormitory but also reviewed every person entering and exiting the dormitory, and retrieved Yang’s phone records to find each person he spoke with for questioning.”
“Yang Kuansheng’s room windows and doors were intact, showing no signs of others climbing or breaking in. Inside the room, apart from footprints matching the size of Yang Kuansheng’s shoes, there were no other footprints or signs of struggle,” Kang Wenxiang introduced.
Kang Wenxiang disclosed that, according to expert appraisal, Yang Kuansheng’s suicide note was written in a normal mental state, “The last sentence read, 'Poor parents, wife, and children, I am leaving.'"
Kang Wenxiang further explained that Yang Kuansheng first cut his neck and left wrist with a knife, then proceeded to cut his lower left wrist, likely cutting several times, and finally used scissors to sever the artery. “During this process, Yang Kuansheng also attempted electrocution suicide but was unsuccessful, ultimately dying after falling from the building. Judging from the bloodstains at the scene, Yang Kuansheng did not initially climb over the balcony; he fell back onto the inner side of the balcony and climbed again, landing on the second-floor sunshade board before hitting the ground. The bruising on his back and shoulders resulted from this."
"Police can only confirm that Yang Kuansheng committed suicide. As for why he chose to take his own life, this does not fall under the jurisdiction of the police, nor is the diagnosis of depression made by the police," Kang Wenxiang stated.
Left Behind a Suicide Note
"Police once revealed to me that there was a phrase in the suicide note, 'I have never accepted bribes, and I have never made mistakes,'" said Lu Kaihong. Some insiders from law enforcement told him that in Yang Kuansheng's dormitory, they also found some cash and remnants of burned hundred-yuan bills.
It was reported that the suicide note had been handed over to Liu Yuehong, but she refused to give any media interviews.
There was intense debate regarding the cause of Yang's death. According to earlier reports from the media involved in the matter, doctors participating in the autopsy stated that Yang Kuansheng's death was not a suicide. Subsequently, the official statement was "corrected": "This statement did not come from the doctors but was a misunderstanding created when Yang's family relayed it to the media."
Tang Liyun said that during this period, leaders from Shaoyang and Wugang repeatedly talked to Liu Yuehong. Liu Yuehong subsequently largely accepted the explanation that her husband had committed suicide. When communicating with relatives, she repeatedly expressed that "I need to consider my child's future." Another part of the family, however, was emotionally agitated and strongly questioned the conclusion of suicide.
Wugang city government spokesperson Zeng Zhaoxun told The Eastern Outlook Weekly: "(Yang Kuansheng) suffered from depression, and there is one detail worth noting. On November 22nd, during a municipal government meeting discussing the local highway, Yang Kuansheng remained silent throughout the meeting." In the eyes of Deputy Director Chen Xiaoyang of the Wugang Public Security Bureau, Yang Kuansheng was "somewhat introverted and prone to extremes."
"Mayor Yang treated people warmly, valued talent, Columbia Jacket, and said it was not easy for rural areas to produce doctoral students!" Luo Xiaofeng, a literature Ph.D. from Wugang now residing in Beijing, told our reporter. Her mother, working in a restaurant, suddenly suffered from cerebral hemorrhage. The restaurant took her to the hospital but abandoned her after two days. Luo Xiaofeng did not know Mayor Yang, but she tried calling Yang Kuansheng, who helped her recover her legal rights and specially approved low-income assistance indicators for her struggling grandparents.
Three days before Yang Kuansheng's death, Luo Xiaofeng had spoken to him on the phone, "His voice was still cheerful, telling me to seek him out if I encountered any difficulties."
Tang Liyun told our reporter that the initial forensic conclusion was "non-normal death," which was later changed to "suicide due to excessive work pressure."
"One whose wrist is severed and has lost much blood cannot move. If the arterial vessels are cut, how could he walk to the balcony and jump?" asked an nephew of Yang Kuansheng.
A Smooth Political Career
Yang Kuansheng's hometown, Majia Bridge Township in Xinning County, borders Wugang City and is a remote mountain village. His parents still live here, and the furnishings in their home are no different from those of ordinary farmers in the area.
Born into poverty, his parents named him "Kuansheng" hoping that "he would be easier to raise in the future." According to Yang Kuansheng's cousin surnamed Tian, Yang Kuansheng was the highest-ranking official to emerge from this small mountain village.
During junior high school, Yang's father became the vice-principal of the middle school where Yang studied, imposing strict discipline on him. Later, Yang Kuansheng entered Wugang Normal School and, after graduation, returned to Xinning County to teach for five years.
Relatives recounted that Yang's father continued to influence his life path even after Yang Kuansheng became the vice-mayor. After someone visited Yang's parents and left a large red envelope upon departure, Yang's father directly returned it since Yang was not at home at the time.
Later, after completing his undergraduate degree, Yang Kuansheng transferred to work at the Xinning County Statistics Bureau, followed by a transfer to the Discipline Inspection Department of Shaoyang City. Within a year, he became the Minister of Organization of the Wugang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
More than a year later, Yang became the Executive Vice-Mayor of Wugang City. Until his death on the morning of November 26th, Yang Kuansheng, 47 years old, had served as vice-mayor for six years.
Despite experiencing many changes, Yang Kuansheng did not bring much change to his hometown. The Yang family's house even leaked wind from all sides.
Lu Kaihong told our reporter that he once sought help from his cousin regarding work issues, but Yang ignored him altogether. Consequently, after Yang's incident, Lu couldn't even find Yang's residence.
Tang Liyun told our reporter that when sorting through the remains in Yang's office, relatives discovered that the cigarettes others had given him were never taken home but were kept in his office.
Yang Kuansheng and his wife Liu Yuehong had been "living separately" for eight years. Liu Yuehong worked as a deputy chief physician in the oncology department of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Shaoyang City. They had a son who had just entered a prestigious university in Wuhan this year, Spyder Jacket.
Zeng Zhaoxun, who once worked at the Wugang Municipal Committee Organization Department, said that Yang Kuansheng was a good leader, "He didn’t smoke, drink, play cards, sing, or dance. He often didn’t take weekends off and was a workaholic."
Rumors of Being Promoted to Mayor
Yang's death reminded many people of another piece of news. Not long before, a rumor spread that "Yang Kuansheng was about to be promoted to mayor."
Recently, during the annual performance evaluation organized by the Shaoyang Municipal Organization Department for county-level leadership teams, Yang Kuansheng received the highest number of votes in public opinion polls.
Relatives revealed that before this rumor circulated, someone had filed complaints against Yang Kuansheng at both the provincial and municipal levels. Subsequently, the provincial and municipal disciplinary inspection commissions conducted investigations, but no problems were found.
Wugang City has seven vice mayors, among whom Yang Kuansheng wielded the most power, overseeing 23 aspects of government work, including the government office, auditing, public security, personnel, finance, taxation, and mineral resource fee collection.
In 1994, Wugang underwent its "county-to-city" transformation. Wang Wei Cha, the former director of the Wugang Municipal Bureau of Statistics, told The Eastern Outlook Weekly that at the time, the leadership reported to higher authorities that Wugang's per capita income was close to 3,000 yuan, whereas the actual figure was less than 2,000 yuan.
Things changed shortly after Yang Kuansheng took office. Wang Wei Cha stated that Yang Kuansheng did not pursue "numerical achievements." After re-verifying the city's fiscal revenue, he submitted another report, "Subsequently, the principal leaders of Shaoyang City dispatched a working group to review Wugang's fiscal revenue and confirmed that it was significantly underestimated. Immediately thereafter, financial support for Wugang was restored."
Wang Wei Cha recalled that there was once a factory in Sima Chong Town that discharged a large amount of sewage, causing widespread dissatisfaction among the local population. Yang Kuansheng personally went to the site, severely dealt with the responsible company, and allocated funds to install tap water for the locals.
Ms. Chen from Zixing Grand Hotel specifically came to talk with our reporter. She said that Yang Kuansheng "wore very ordinary clothes, never put on airs, and always initiated conversations with us."
A local official told our reporter: "Many common people in Wugang went to see the leaders to handle affairs and specifically requested to see Mayor Yang."
Silent Wife
An nephew of Yang told our reporter that Yang Kuansheng had a straightforward personality. Things that other officials couldn't handle well, he would take over. Regarding the Wugang blood lead level exceedance incident, which caused confrontations between thousands of people and the police, "Many leaders couldn't resolve the situation properly, but after Yang arrived at the scene, the matter was handled appropriately."
During a meeting in September 2009, Yang Kuansheng pointed out the need to severely crack down on illegal coal mines in Wugang, polo. Since 2008, Wugang had shut down and reorganized several coal mines, which led to strong reactions from coal bosses. However, local officials told our reporter that the conflicts between Yang and the coal mine sector were minimal, and retaliatory killings by small coal mine owners could be basically ruled out.
A man surnamed Zeng posted online on November 22nd that the Wugang municipal government supported Hunan Shenfu Real Estate Company in building and selling commercial housing for profit, resulting in multiple incidents of violent beatings of displaced households. Under the command of Vice Mayor Yang Kuansheng and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission Huang Chongyuan, public, procuratorial, judicial, and black forces were mobilized to forcibly excavate his grandmother's ancestral grave, and his elderly parents were detained.
In response to this online post, an official from the Wugang Municipal Publicity Department told our reporter that the relocation of ancestral graves was a unified arrangement by the government and had little to do with Yang personally, and there was certainly no violent demolition.
A local official told our reporter that there had been no significant changes in the political landscape of Wugang recently. Only on October 21, 2009, did the local court begin the trial of the bribery case involving Mao Zuyun, the former director of the Wugang Municipal Commerce Bureau.
According to reports, during his tenure as director of the Wugang Municipal Commerce Bureau from 2006 to 2007, Mao Zuyun used his position to accept bribes seven times from construction contractors, totaling 452,000 yuan. Mao Zuyun was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and the case has been closed.
Contrary to the strong reactions of Yang's other relatives, Liu Yuehong remained indifferent to the external commotion. Our reporter attempted to approach her multiple times to engage in conversation, but she remained completely silent.