CHINA-ECONOMY: PROMINENT BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN SUN DAWU SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS IN JAIL

A Chinese court in Gaobeidian City in Baoding on July 28 sentenced 67-year old Sun Dawu, an outspoken farming magnate, to 18 years in jail for allegedly causing public disorder and a multitude of other offences. He was also fined about 3.1 million yuan, the equivalent of about $405,500. Sun Dawu’s company, Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group, had been publicly feuding with a state-owned farm in China’s northern city of Baoding over a long-running land dispute when police detained him, members of his family and other senior Dawu executives in November. Prosecutors formally brought charges in May against Sun Dawu, his company and 19 other defendants, including two brothers and two sons of Sun Dawu. The trial started in July and lasted roughly two weeks, which Chinese lawyers said showed unusual urgency.

(COMMENT: The Chinese authorities are going after those critical of Xi Jinping and his government. In 2018, Wu Xiaohui, a Chinese tycoon who rose to prominence after he bought the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for defrauding investors. In 2020, retired real-estate mogul and a 'princeling' Ren Zhiqiang was given an 18-year prison term after he called Xi Jinping a clown in an essay. While the fate of Sun Dawu’s business remains unclear, his oldest son and company Chairman, Sun Meng, said through his lawyer that the government appeared to be pushing for a takeover.)






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