Ren Jiqiang: Chinese businessman jailed for 18 years for criticizing Xi Jinping for handling coronavirus

Ren’s indictment and heavy sentence were designed to send a message to other members of China’s elite that Xi would not tolerate public criticism or contempt, as Beijing continues to deal with the fall of the pandemic and faces intense international pressure from Washington and others.

‘The Canon’

Born into the Communist Party ruling elite, the 69-year-old Ren often spoke openly about Chinese politics, much more than is generally allowed in the ruling realm.

He directly earned the nickname “The Canon” on Chinese social media.

“I did not see an emperor standing there displaying his ‘new clothes’, but a clown who undressed and insisted on remaining an emperor,” Ren wrote at a mass video conference on February 23 about G’s speech to 170,000 officials across the country.

The article accused the Communist Party of putting its own interests above the security of the Chinese people, in order to secure its rule.

“Without a media that represents the interests of the people by publishing factual facts, people’s lives are being ruined by both the virus and the major illness of the system,” Ren alleged.

This is not the first time Ren has distanced himself from the Chinese leadership for speaking his mind.

In 2016, he was disciplined after questioning social media ji’s demands to be completely loyal to the China State Media Party. He has been under scrutiny for a year for his party membership and his popular account on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, has been shut down.

However, this time Ren‌ has no second chance. If he enjoys his full sentence, he will be in his late 80s by the time he is released.