Ren Zhiqiang, a former property tycoon and an outspoken critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail, and a fine, on charges of ‘corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds’, according to reports.
The BBC reported that Ren, the former chairman of the Hua Yuan Property Company, went missing in March this year shortly after writing an essay on China’s response to Covid-19 which was said to be critical of Xi. Although it did not name Xi, it was widely believed to be about him.
According to a report in the China Digital Times, Ren wrote of a televised address by Xi: ‘I too am curiously and conscientiously studying [the] speech… what I saw [was] not an emperor standing there but a clown.’
Shortly after the essay was published, it was announced that Ren had been put under investigation for “suspected serious disciplinary violations”.
The BBC said the report said Beijing’s No 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled that Ren had accepted bribes worth 1.25m yuan and embezzled almost 50m yuan. He is said to have ‘voluntarily’ confessed to all charges and will not appeal against the decision.
Rights groups have consistently accused China of using corruption charges as a way to clamp down on dissent.
[Picture: Wang65, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18469737]