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Heavy prison sentence for anti-Xi Jinping Chinese tycoon

2020-09-22T08:07:54.272Z


China silences " the cannon ": a 69-year-old ex-Chinese media director, known for his diatribes against power and President Xi Jinping, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for " corruption ". Read also: Ren Zhiqiang, the anti-Xi Jinping "Big Gun" silenced behind bars Scratchy of government, the wealthy Ren Zhiqiang, former head of a public real estate group, was until his recent exclusio


China silences "

the cannon

": a 69-year-old ex-Chinese media director, known for his diatribes against power and President Xi Jinping, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for "

corruption

".

Read also: Ren Zhiqiang, the anti-Xi Jinping "Big Gun" silenced behind bars

Scratchy of government, the wealthy Ren Zhiqiang, former head of a public real estate group, was until his recent exclusion this summer a longtime member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

An atypical figure in a generally civilized economic environment, he has never been a politician.

But he was very followed on social networks because of his rants which have earned him the nickname "

dapao

" ("

the gun

").

Ren Zhiqiang disappeared from radar in March, some time after publishing on the internet yet another scathing article criticizing the authorities' response to the Covid-19 epidemic - which appeared at the end of 2019 in the metropolis of Wuhan (center).

While any frontal criticism of Xi Jinping in the public space is almost taboo in China, he accused the president of being a “

clown

” and the government of having been slow to react to the new coronavirus.

Ren Zhiqiang was placed under investigation in April for "

violating discipline,

" a euphemism commonly used to refer to financial embezzlement.

A member of the CCP since 1974, he was expelled in July.

"

All his crimes

"

The coup de grace came on Tuesday: he was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment and a fine of 4.2 million yuan (530,000 euros) for "

corruption, acceptance of bribes, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power,

”said the Beijing Intermediate People's Court No. 2.

According to the judgment posted online, Ren Zhiqiang, former chairman of the public real estate group Beijing Huayuan, received between 2003 and 2017 some 1.25 million yuan (160,000 euros) in bribes.

Once a famous personality in the business and real estate world, he would also have used for his personal benefit or embezzled around 111 million yuan (13.9 million euros) of public funds.

According to the verdict, Ren Zhiqiang admitted "

all his crimes

" and "

will not appeal

".

Sign of a certain embarrassment of the power: the social network Weibo (equivalent of Twitter) quickly censored the critical comments of the power under the posts mentioning the affair.

In his pamphlet published during the Covid-19 epidemic in China, Ren Zhiqiang was particularly critical of the Chinese president.

"

The Party protects its interests, the senior leaders protect their interests and the monarch only defends his central position and his interests,

" he wrote without citing Xi Jinping, who was then described as a "

clown

".

Controversial

Is Ren Zhiqiang Really Guilty of Corruption?

The real estate in which he worked until his retirement in 2015 is a sector prone to embezzlement, in a China which for 40 years has experienced a construction frenzy.

And Xi Jinping has been leading a vast anti-corruption campaign for several years, which is very popular with the public.

But the operation is also suspected of serving to bring down personalities opposed to his political line.

But Ren Zhiqiang had become influential with tens of millions of subscribers on the internet.

The tycoon's Weibo account had been deactivated in 2016. A decision came after the publication of a message criticizing a speech by Xi Jinping, which urged the official media to "

serve

" the CCP.

Civil society has been under pressure since its arrival in 2013 at the top of the state: the internet more censored, human rights lawyers worried or even detained or even academic freedom in decline.

Ren Zhiqiang is, however, a controversial figure in China because of his sometimes very capitalist and radical positions, especially on real estate.

While soaring house prices over the past 20 years are preventing many Chinese from owning property, he once said that people who did not invest in time "

now deserve to be poor

".

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-09-22

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