Pan Yiyang, Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was recently arrested and taken to Beijing on charges of corruption. He was taken away even before his Australian hosts could be notified that he will not be attending the dinner and before they could adjust the formal table setting. 17 other high-ranking Inner Mongolia party officials have been taken away for questioning since February last year, according to China Newsweek magazine. Of them, 12 were detained in the past three months alone. 21 senior officials are known to have committed suicide this year to pre-empt investigations and protect their families. One of them, Zhang Penghui, committed suicide on September 8, 2014.