Probe finds disabled villager used to evade court ruling

Authorities in central China's Henan province have confirmed that a village official was illegally replaced on paper by a cognitively disabled resident in an attempt to evade court enforcement, following widespread online allegations that sparked public outrage.

The Xinxiang city government said an investigation found that the case in Sunshiyao village, part of Huixian city's Nanzhai township, was "basically true." A joint investigation and rectification team was set up on Dec 16, 2025, after reports circulated online that a villager with an intellectual disability had been used as a "stand-in" village Party chief.

According to the official findings, the scheme began in June 2024, when Sunshiyao village failed to fully comply with a court judgment in a debt dispute. The village's then Party branch secretary and legal representative, identified as Tie Tuo, was facing a court order restricting high-spending activities, a common enforcement measure in China for debt defaulters.

To avoid the restriction, Tie Tuo sought help from Shi Hongbiao, then deputy Party secretary and township head of Nanzhai. Shi in turn contacted Wei Xintao, then head of the enforcement bureau of the Huixian People's Court, to discuss ways to circumvent the measure.

Investigators found that a township official fabricated a document falsely removing Tie Tuo from his post and appointing villager Guo Heihu — a non-Communist Party of China member with a Level II intellectual disability — as Party branch secretary. The document was used to mislead the court, while Tie Tuo continued to exercise real authority in the village.

Relying on the falsified paperwork, a court enforcement officer imposed high-spending restrictions on Guo on July 11, 2024. The court later discovered the document was fraudulent and lifted the restriction on July 23.

Authorities said 11 people were held accountable, including township officials, village leaders and court personnel. Disciplinary measures ranged from warnings and demotions to expulsion from Party posts and dismissal from government positions. Several senior officials were criticized or removed for leadership failures, including a former Huixian city Party standing committee member and a former vice-mayor.

The former village Party chief Tie Tuo received a two-year probationary Party punishment, while Shi Hongbiao was expelled from government service and placed on a one-year Party probation. The former head of the Huixian court's enforcement bureau was removed from his Party post, and the enforcement officer who imposed the restriction without verification received a serious disciplinary warning.

The Henan Provincial High People's Court has ordered a retrial of the underlying debt dispute. Auditors are examining Sunshiyao village's finances, while disciplinary inspectors and police are continuing investigations into potential additional violations. A work team has also been dispatched to the village to address long-standing grievances and governance problems raised by residents.

In a statement, the Xinxiang city government said it bore responsibility for the incident, calling it a "serious violation of discipline and law," and pledged to draw lessons from the case, strengthen oversight and reinforce legal and ethical education for officials to prevent similar abuses.