Chinese billionaire jailed for 18 years for criticising China’s President’s response to coronavirus
An outspoken Chinese tycoon has been jailed for 18 years after criticising Xi Xinping’s response to the Coronavirus.
According to CNN, Ren Zhiqiang (69) vanished in March after allegedly writing an essay blasting the government’s response to the pandemic and describing its leader as a ‘clown’. He has now been charged and convicted by a Beijing court for multiple corruption charges, including embezzling $16.3 million in public funds.
Known as ‘the Cannon’ in China, the retired property magnate is famous for expressing critical opinions of the country’s increasingly totalitarian government. Many analysts see the conviction as a warning to China’s elites to tow the party line as worldwide scrutiny grows over the country’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
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