Miao Xuegang, the former director of the Anhui Environmental Protection Department who once boasted of “holding up a blue sky for the people” was investigated

On May 23, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission quoted news from the Anhui Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: Miao Xuegang, director of the Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Overseas Chinese and Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPPCC Anhui Provincial Committee, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Anhui Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision. .

Public information shows that Miao Xuegang, male, Han nationality, born in March 1962, is from Gushi, Henan. Bachelor's degree from the Central Institute of Finance and Economics. He started working in July 1983 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1991.

Miao Xuegang worked in the Anhui Provincial Department of Finance for a long time in his early years. He served as the deputy director of the office of the Anhui Provincial Department of Finance. He was later transferred to the office director of the Anhui Provincial Local Taxation Bureau and the director of the Regulations Department. After that, he successively served as deputy secretary and county magistrate of Fanchang County Party Committee, secretary of the Fanchang County Party Committee, Anhui Province Deputy director and member of the Party Leadership Group of the Economic and Trade Commission, deputy secretary of the Chuzhou Municipal Party Committee and mayor, secretary of the Party Leadership Group and director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Anhui Provincial Committee, secretary of the Provincial Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce, and work on non-public economic and social organizations of the Provincial Committee Deputy Secretary of the Committee.

In recent years, Miao Xuegang has also appeared as the leader of the 14th Circuit Supervision Group of the Anhui Provincial Committee.

According to Miao Xuegang’s resume, from June 2009 to November 2016, he served as Party Secretary and Director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Environmental Protection for more than seven years. This was also a highlight in his career. In March 2015, Miao Xuegang also returned to his alma mater, the Central University of Finance and Economics, to give a lecture with the theme of "Providing a Blue Sky for the People."

However, some problems that Miao Xuegang had during his tenure at the Environmental Protection Department were exposed by the Central Environmental Protection Inspectorate after he left office.

The Fourth Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team carried out environmental protection inspections in Anhui Province from April 27 to May 27, 2017, and fed back the inspection opinions to the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government on July 29, 2017. According to the "Anhui Province Report on Accountability Issues Regarding the Transfer of Responsibility for Ecological and Environmental Damage to Central Environmental Protection Inspectors" published on the website of the Anhui Provincial Government, Miao Xuegang was punished for issues while serving as director of the Environmental Protection Department.

The above-mentioned accountability report mentioned that outstanding environmental problems in the Dongzhi Economic Development Zone of Chizhou City have not been resolved for a long time. As of the time of inspection, the river interception was still not in place, and high-concentration wastewater from enterprises in the development zone was still leaking into the river. The water quality of the river has long been poor. It is inferior to Category V, with chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen concentration as high as 127 mg/L and 9 mg/L respectively. The Dongzhi County Government failed to complete the rectification targets as required by the Anhui Provincial Department of Environmental Protection’s supervision, and it also failed to hold relevant units and personnel accountable. The pipe network construction of Tongling Circular Economy Industrial Experimental Park is slow, and the problem of excessive emissions from enterprises is prominent. For this reason, the Anhui Provincial Environmental Protection Department implemented listing supervision in August 2014.

However, Tongling City has been slow to rectify problems such as pipeline network construction lagging behind, sewage treatment plants unable to operate normally, and excessive discharge of heavy metals from sewage outlets entering the river. The rectification had not yet been completed by the time of the inspection. The sewage treatment plant in the Printed Circuit Board Industrial Park in the park has been unable to stably meet discharge standards for a long time due to the mixed discharge of wastewater containing heavy metals from the management companies and the excessive discharge of wastewater. The supervision of the Anhui Provincial Department of Environmental Protection is not strict enough. In December 2015, it canceled the listing supervision based solely on the commitment made by the Dongzhi County Government; it also failed to promote accountability as required for the ineffective rectification of the listing supervision of the Tongling Circular Economy Industrial Experimental Park.

In this regard, in accordance with relevant regulations and cadre management authority, Miao Xuegang, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Anhui Provincial Committee, secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce, and executive vice chairman, was given a political warning.

It is worth noting that Huang Huafeng, then deputy mayor of Tongling City, was punished at the same time as Miao Xuegang.

On March 1 this year, the Anhui Discipline Inspection and Supervision Network reported that Huang Huafeng, who had been transferred to the Standing Committee of the Maanshan Municipal Party Committee and the Executive Deputy Mayor of the Municipal Government, was suspected of serious violations of disciplines and laws and was subject to disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Anhui Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.