China’s Major Scandals in 2025 Reveal a Society in Free Fall Under the CCP
Udumbara
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China prides itself on being a civilization rooted in “ritual and propriety” that stretches back thousands of years. Yet under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule, cultural norms have eroded, moral boundaries have blurred, and the country has become increasingly unrecognizable.
The following are major scandals of 2025—merely the tip of the iceberg—that offer a snapshot of a society in decline.
A Privileged Mistress
In April, Xiao Fei, a deputy chief physician at Beijing’s China–Japan Friendship Hospital, was reported by his wife for having affairs with multiple women, according to Chinese state media. What caught the public’s attention was that one of the mistresses, Dong Xiying, a resident physician who switched from economics to medicine, completed her medical degree in just four years, a process that generally takes a decade.2 Notable Scandals Abroad
Yang Lanlan, a 23-year-old Chinese national living in Australia, drew widespread attention after being charged with drunk driving.Yang is accused of driving under the influence when she crashed her Rolls-Royce Cullinan into a Mercedes-Benz van in Rose Bay, an upscale Sydney suburb, on July 26. George Plassaras, the chauffeur for Sydney radio host Kyle Sandilands, sustained major injuries, including fractures to his spine, ribs, hip, and femur.
Yang is widely reported to possess extraordinary personal wealth. In addition to her designer clothes, she allegedly owns a Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a Rolls-Royce Ghost convertible, both worth more than $1.5 million. Some sources claim that she has connections with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Jiang Yurong sparked backlash after a speech she delivered at Harvard went viral, prompting criticism from netizens. Her speech was widely interpreted on social media as echoing Xi’s diplomatic narrative of “community with a shared future for mankind.”
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Public scrutiny quickly turned to her family background; some speculate that she had been admitted to Harvard because of her father’s ties to a state-backed nongovernmental organization, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. Her father, Jiang Zhiming, donated 1 million yuan (about $139,000) to the organization to establish the Green Future Technological Development Fund.
She secured a letter of recommendation from Zhou Jinfeng, the foundation’s former general secretary, to support her Harvard application. However, Jiang Yurong said she did not submit Zhou’s letter to Harvard because the university allowed only three references.
The ‘Badge-Flashing Sister’
On July 22, in Fangchenggang, Guangxi, a motorist pulled over on a narrow rural road to let an oncoming vehicle pass. Instead, the woman driving a Mercedes in the opposite lane demanded that he reverse to let her pass. When he refused, she flashed a document and warned, “Should I take out my badge?” She appeared to imply she was law enforcement, reciting his home address and surname in one breath, even though he lived out of town.The motorist found it hard to believe that she had immediate access to his personal information, which should be accessible only to the police. According to state-run media Xinhua News Agency, the woman was an employee of an auto parts company, and her husband was a firefighter in a town in Guangxi.
Baidu VP’s Daughter and ‘Doxxing’ Scandal
On March 12, a pregnant woman posted a mild comment on Weibo about K-pop star Jang Wonyoung’s Paris Fashion Week schedule. The woman was soon doxxed: her real name, phone number, and workplace were exposed by fans.Between March 15 and 16, multiple netizens who defended the pregnant woman were also doxxed. Netizens identified a 13-year-old girl, the main suspect in the doxxing scandal, as the daughter of Baidu Vice President Xie Guangjun.
After initially denying involvement, Xie publicly apologized on the Chinese social media platform WeChat on March 17, admitting that his daughter “posted other people’s private information from overseas social media sites.” However, many questioned whether she had access to Baidu’s internal user data, according to Sanlian Lifeweek, a state-run weekly magazine based in Beijing.
Mass Kindergarten Lead Poisoning
In March, children at Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui city, Gansu Province, began exhibiting symptoms such as stomach pain, blackened gums, hair loss, and lethargy. School authorities downplayed concerns, while local hospitals reported that students’ blood-lead levels ranged from 20 to 60 micrograms per liter, which they said was considered normal.However, parents doubted these claims and took their children to hospitals in Xi’an, the neighboring city in Shanxi Province. There, tests revealed blood-lead levels from 200 to 500 micrograms per liter, with one case reaching 580 micrograms per liter—up to 45 times higher than the local readings.
Tap Water Contamination in Hangzhou—and Across China
On July 16, residents of Hangzhou’s Yuhang District reported foul-smelling, discolored tap water with sediment. Videos showing the contaminated water circulated on Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), WeChat, and Xiaohongshu (RedNote). Many of these videos were soon deleted by Chinese authorities.The local waterworks waited 14 hours before notifying residents that the drinking water was contaminated. Hangzhou municipal government officials blamed the smell on a natural phenomenon—the anaerobic breakdown of algae, which produces sulfur compounds. Nevertheless, many locals remained unconvinced.
An independent environmental researcher said that it was “not an isolated incident” but “a long-standing, systemic issue” and “a symptom of institutional failure.”
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- Guangdong (Yangjiang, Xudong Village): Locals said their water was so polluted that “even livestock wouldn’t drink it.”
- Chongqing: Viral footage showed black water gushing from taps.
- Hubei, Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi: Residents described their water as “worse than ditch water” and “undrinkable.”
6 College Students Die at a Mining Plant
On July 23, six students from Northeastern University in Liaoning Province drowned after falling into an industrial flotation cell in Inner Mongolia when the grating panel collapsed beneath them. One teacher was injured. The oldest student was 22, and the youngest had just turned 20. The incident sparked widespread outrage online.“That was not water, but slurry thicker than cement,” reads a blog reposted by a state-affiliated news website Guancha. “That was not drowning, but being torn apart by the conspiracy of chemicals, mechanical impellers, and tons of ore powder.”
Shaolin Abbot Brought Down by Corruption Scandals
After decades of turning the Shaolin Temple into a commercial empire, Abbot Shi Yongxin—once dubbed the “CEO Monk”—was finally investigated in July.Authorities accused him of “criminal offenses, including misappropriating project funds and temple assets, and seriously violating Buddhist precepts by maintaining improper relationships with multiple women and fathering illegitimate children.” He was formally arrested in November.
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Wahaha Founder’s Secret Children and Multibillion-Dollar Inheritance Battle
After Chinese beverage tycoon Zong Qinghou passed away in February 2024, his daughter was sued in July 2025 by three U.S.-citizen plaintiffs claiming to be her half-siblings.Wahaha Group, based in Hangzhou, is among China’s largest privately owned beverage companies. Its founder, Zong Qinghou, was once ranked China’s wealthiest person. Despite this, he maintained a humble image, wearing cheap canvas shoes and living modestly—his annual expenses reportedly less than 50,000 yuan (roughly $7,000)—and publicly acknowledging only one child, Kelly Zong, who took over as Wahaha’s chairwoman, but stepped down in late 2025 due to the ongoing feud.
Nanjing Museum Accused of Selling Off National Treasures
In May, a descendant of the renowned collector Pang Laichen discovered that a Ming Dynasty painting, donated by Pang, was up for auction at 88 million yuan (about $12.6 million). However, the museum claimed it was classified as a “forgery” and sold for only 6,800 yuan (about $974) in 2001.On Dec. 21, 2025, Guo Lidian, a retired staff member from the Collections Department at Nanjing Museum, formally accused the former museum director, Xu Huping, of organizing and executing large-scale theft and smuggling of cultural relics moved from the Forbidden City, resulting in the loss and damage of “thousands of national treasures.”
The New Year
The scandals of 2025 indicated a strong sense of social decline in China. Who would want to live or raise children in such a society?Looking ahead to 2026, many hope that more Chinese will choose to leave the CCP and help build a future without it.
