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China Sentences Tycoon Who Criticized Xi to 18 Years in Prison China’s ‘Big Cannon’ Blasted Xi. Now He’s Been Jailed for 18 Years.
(about 7 hours later)
A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced an outspoken Chinese property tycoon who had denounced the Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, to 18 years in prison for corruption, a harsh punishment that appeared aimed at deterring dissent. Ren Zhiqiang, the property tycoon nicknamed “Big Cannon,” was notorious for his blunt criticisms of the Communist Party, and yet his wealth and political connections long seemed to shield him from severe punishment. Until now.
The court in Beijing said that the tycoon, Ren Zhiqiang, had used his former posts to take bribes and embezzle public funds, and accused him of illegally enriching himself by about $2.9 million. But Mr. Ren’s supporters are sure to see the long sentence as punishment for his cutting comments about Mr. Xi — and as a warning to other potential critics of Mr. Xi’s rule. A court in Beijing sentenced Mr. Ren to 18 years in prison on Tuesday. The court said he was guilty of graft, taking bribes, misusing public funds and abusing his power during and after his time as an executive at a property development company.
“Cracking down on Ren Zhiqiang, using economic crimes to punish him, is a warning to others — killing one to warn a hundred,” Cai Xia, a friend of Mr. Ren’s who formerly taught at the Central Party School, which trains rising officials, said in a telephone interview before the court’s judgment. Mr. Ren’s supporters and sympathizers said that his real crime was criticizing the Communist Party and calling the country’s hard-line leader, Xi Jinping, a “clown.”
“It’s a warning to the whole party and especially to red offspring,” Ms. Cai said, referring to the children of party officials. “Very clearly this was punishment for his words, that’s going to be obvious to everyone,” Guo Yuhua, a sociologist in Beijing, said by telephone. “Those economic problems — this one, that one — can be concocted whenever you want.”
While many others have also criticized the Chinese government, Mr. Ren, 69, stood out for his ties to the party establishment and for his willingness as a prominent businessman to bluntly criticize the party. He comes from a family steeped in Communist Party tradition and was once close to senior party leaders, including Wang Qishan, who is now vice president. Mr. Ren’s punishment has underlined how far Mr. Xi has rolled back allowances for dissent, even from members of the elite like Mr. Ren, a scion of a Communist family and former friend of senior officials. His supporters also see the long prison term as a warning to others, especially elites, who may be thinking about openly challenging the party and Mr. Xi.
The sentence handed down by the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing appeared long for someone of Mr. Ren’s age and elite connections. The court said that he had “fully admitted to the facts of all the crimes and willingly accepted the court’s judgment.” “Cracking down on Ren Zhiqiang, using economic crimes to punish him, is a warning to others — killing one to warn a hundred,” said Cai Xia, an acquaintance of Mr. Ren’s who formerly taught at the Central Party School, which trains rising officials.
The court also said in a statement that Mr. Ren had accepted the judgment and would not appeal. But his case was cloaked in secrecy, and the court’s decision was swift even by the standards of politically sensitive cases that come before China’s party-controlled courts. “It’s a warning to the whole party and especially to red offspring,” Ms. Cai said, referring to the children of party officials. She spoke before the court’s judgment in a telephone interview from the United States, where she now lives.
The court statement did not say when Mr. Ren’s trial took place, but his supporters said the court had posted an announcement that his trial was to be held on Sept. 11, eleven days ago. At 69, Mr. Ren is old enough that he could spend the rest of his life in prison unless his sentence is reduced.
Mr. Ren has joined a handful of wealthy and educated Chinese who have recently taken on the expanding power of the party and have suffered afterward. So far, the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court has issued few details of the evidence that it said proved Mr. Ren had illegally enriched himself by about $2.9 million between 2003 and 2017. The official summary of the court’s judgment said that his abuses had led Chinese state-owned companies to lose around $17 million. The court said that he had “fully admitted to the facts of all the crimes and willingly accepted the court’s judgment.”
This month, the police in Beijing detained Geng Xiaonan, a businesswoman who runs a publishing company. Ms. Geng had supported Xu Zhangrun, a professor of law at the prestigious Tsinghua University, who had condemned Mr. Xi’s hard-line policies in a succession of essays. Mr. Xu was detained by the police for about a week in July, and Ms. Geng had leapt to his defense after investigators said he had used prostitutes, an accusation he vehemently denied. But his case was cloaked in secrecy, and the court’s decision was swift by the standards of politically sensitive cases that come before China’s party-controlled courts. The court did not say when Mr. Ren’s trial took place, but supporters said the court posted an announcement that his trial was to be held on Sept. 11. The news of his sentence was downplayed by Chinese state-run news outlets, which mostly carried the court’s statement.
The police have said that Ms. Geng and her husband were suspected of illegal business activities. Their supporters say Ms. Geng was targeted for helping Mr. Xu and other dissenters who have run foul of the party. “This is political persecution, plain and simple,” Ms. Cai said. “He was already audited when he retired, and then repeatedly checked again in 2016.”
Ms. Cai, the former party school professor, was expelled from the Communist Party last month after she scathingly denounced Mr. Xi’s policies in speeches and essays. She now lives in the United States. Mr. Ren retired from the Huayuan company in 2014. He waded into political hot water in 2016, when he scoffed at Mr. Xi’s call for Chinese journalists to staunchly follow the Communist Party. But at the time the party’s punishment was relatively light: it put Mr. Ren on probation and he received a round of censuring by the state news media.
“This is political persecution, plain and simple,” Ms. Cai said, referring to Mr. Ren’s case. “I believe that this prosecution was not because of any economic crimes, but because of his political opinions.” This time, Mr. Ren was detained in March after he criticized Mr. Xi’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak that spread across China and then the world from late last year. In an essay that spread on the internet, he said the officials’ mishandling of the outbreak — including stifling information about initial infections — vindicated his 2016 warning against stifling public criticism.
Mr. Ren was detained in March after he criticized Mr. Xi’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak that spread across China and the rest of the world from late last year. Months later, the Communist Party announced that Mr. Ren had been expelled and that he had been placed under criminal investigation. After citing a February speech in which Mr. Xi defended the party’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, Mr. Ren wrote, “Standing there was not an emperor showing off his ‘new clothes,’ but a clown stripped of his clothes who still insisted on being emperor.”
The businessman had posted an essay that blasted the Chinese government’s initial mishandling of the outbreak, which emerged in Wuhan, a city in central China where officials held back information about infections. In July, the Communist Party announced that Mr. Ren had been expelled and that he had been placed under criminal investigation. The party announcement said that Mr. Ren’s misdeeds included using public funds to pay for use of a golf course. But the announcement also singled out Mr. Ren’s opinions, accusing him of distorting party history and being disloyal.
Mr. Ren said the party’s harsh controls on free speech had exacerbated the crisis by deterring whistle-blowers. He also referred obliquely to Mr. Xi as a “clown.” “Ren Zhiqiang lost his ideals and convictions,” the party said. “On major matters of principle, he failed to stay in line with the party’s central authorities.”
After citing a speech in which Mr. Xi defended the party’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, Mr. Ren wrote, “Standing there was not an emperor showing off his ‘new clothes,’ but a clown stripped of his clothes who still insisted on being emperor.” While other Chinese people have criticized the Chinese government, and suffered punishment for it, Mr. Ren stood out for his ties to the party establishment and for his willingness as a prominent businessman to bluntly criticize the party.
In 2016, the Communist Party had already warned Mr. Ren and put him on probation after he publicly scoffed at Mr. Xi’s comments that Chinese news outlets must serve the party. “When did the people’s government turn into the party’s government?” Mr. Ren wrote. He came from a family steeped in Communist Party tradition — his father served as a vice minister of commerce — and he was once close to senior party leaders, including Vice President Wang Qishan.
The party expelled Mr. Ren in July and accused him of disloyalty. Like many in his generation, Mr. Ren worked in the countryside and then as a soldier before he ventured into business in the 1980s, when China’s market economy was opening under Deng Xiaoping. He made his name and his fortune in real estate, overseeing the Huayuan property company. City authorities in Beijing held a controlling stake in the company, but Mr. Ren left his stamp on it.
“Ren Zhiqiang lost his ideals and convictions,” the Beijing party authorities said. “On major matters of principle, he failed to stay in line with the party’s central authorities.” He was “confident, decisive, aggressive, like a commanding officer in the military,” a Beijing official-turned-businessman, He Yang, wrote in a memoir shared on the Chinese internet.
Even before he ventured into political debate, Mr. Ren ignited controversy with his public comments on the economy and the housing market. His many profiles in Chinese magazines often mention an incident in 2010 when a man threw a shoe at him while he was attending a real estate forum at a high-end hotel.
Mr. Ren appeared to brush off the criticism, and embraced the opportunities to share his views on the internet.
“What’s most lacking in this society isn’t lies but truth-speaking,” Mr. Ren said in 2013.
Mr. Ren has joined a handful of wealthy and educated Chinese who have spoken out against the party’s expanding power, and have been punished as a result.
Since coming to power in 2012, Mr. Xi has steadily throttled dissent in China, and he has been especially incensed at wayward party members who criticize his policies.
“Never allow eating the Communist Party’s food and then smashing the Communist Party’s cooking pot,” Mr. Xi said in 2014, according to a book collecting his comments on risks to China and the party that was published last month.
This month, the police in Beijing detained Geng Xiaonan, a businesswoman who runs a publishing company. Ms. Geng had supported Xu Zhangrun, a professor of law at the prestigious Tsinghua University, who had condemned Mr. Xi’s hard-line policies in a series of essays.
Mr. Xu was detained by the police for about a week in July, and Ms. Geng had leapt to his defense after investigators said he had used prostitutes, an accusation he vehemently denied.
The police have said that Ms. Geng and her husband were accused of conducting illegal business activities. Their supporters say Ms. Geng was targeted for helping Mr. Xu and other dissenters who have run foul of the party.
Ms. Cai, the former party school professor, was expelled from the Communist Party last month after she scathingly denounced Mr. Xi’s policies in speeches and essays.
For a while after his 2016 censure, Mr. Ren appeared to retreat from public view. He held an exhibition late last year to showcase his new love of artistic carpentry. But as the coronavirus gripped China, Mr. Ren seemed unable to hold back from sharing his scathing criticisms of the government with friends.
Rights activists criticized Mr. Ren’s 18-year sentence as excessive. Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch, called it “off-the-charts ruthless” and said the court’s account of Mr. Ren fully capitulating was alarming, as it used language that often indicated that defendants were under immense pressure.
“It rings alarm bells that they are trying to avoid ill-treatment,” Ms. Richardson said, “not that they have become cheerleaders of Xi’s rule by law.”
Amber Wang contributed research.