Ding Yizhen

Ding Yizhen (simplified Chinese: 丁义珍) is a minor antagonist of the 2017 Chinese TV drama series, In the Name of People. Before his downfall, he was the deputy mayor of Jingzhou City, Handon Province.

He was portrayed by the Chinese veteran actor, Xu Wenguang.

Overview
Before his downfall, Deputy Mayor Ding Yizhen was in duty of administrating mine resources, land as well as the reconstruction of old urban areas. Although Li Dakang, Jingzhou's Secretary Municipal Committee, was the de jure administrator of all those tasks, Ding Yizhen was the de facto man in charge.

During the time when Zhao Dehan's crime was discovered, Ding Yizhen was in a meeting in Jingzhou which centered around the Guangmingfeng Project, without knowing himself being observed by Hou Liangping, the chief of the local anti-corruption station, for his crime of being bribed. During the meetings, Lu Yike and her team arrived at the place. Lu ordered Lin Huahua and Zhou Zheng to observe Ding Yizhen carefully and found out that Ding had a good connection due to his political power.

Soon, finally, Lu Yike received a call from Chen Hai, who instrcuted her to keep her eyes on Ding Yizhen. Lu Yike and her team managed to keep an eye on Ding without letting him notice. However, in that same night, before Hou Liangping and Chen Hai could arrest him, Ding Yizhen received a mysterious call (later revealed to be arranged by Qi Tongwei and Gao Xiaoqin) who warned him about his future expose.

Hearing this, Ding Yizhen was shocked and he immediately fled for the United States by plane under a false alias. Since there was no extradition treaty between China and the United States, Ding Yizhen managed to go free. He drank wine on plane to celebrate his escape. After arriving at the United States, however, Ding did not live in a proper life. He was forced to went hiding and became a janitor in a disco bar as a disguise. He lived in a insecure and paranoid life, living in a mere motel and dare not go outside.

Despite having a small role in the series, Ding Yizhen's escape was the key to cause many of the later disastrous conflicts in the later story. It was unknown what happened to him afterwards, but no matter what he ended up to be, it shall be even worse than being held captive in a Chinese prison.

Trivia

 * Ding Yizhen was based on Wang Guoqiang, the former mayor of Fengcheng, Liaoning Province as well as the city's  Secretary Municipal Committee of CPC. In January 23rd, 2017, Wang Guoqiang was accused of being bribed and had a certain amount of property without specific source. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for his crime, with his illegal property being confiscated.