A Chinese real estate tycoon and outspoken critic of President Xi Jinping was jailed for 18 years on Tuesday for corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds, a court statement said. Ren Zhiqiang — once among the ruling Communist Party’s inner circle — disappeared from the public eye in March, shortly after penning an essay that lambasted Xi’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. His outspokenness had earned the former chairman of state-owned property developer the Huayuan Group the nickname “Big Cannon”. Tuesday’s verdict said Ren embezzled almost 50 million yuan ($7.4 million) of public funds and accepted bribes worth 1.25 million yuan, according to a statement from the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court. It said the 69-year-old “voluntarily and truthfully confessed all his crimes”, and would not appeal the court’s decision. He was also fined 4.2 million yuan ($620,000). Rights campaigners accuse Xi and the Communist Party of using corruption charges to silence dissent. Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on civil society since Xi took power in 2012, tightening restrictions on freedom of speech and detaining hundreds of activists and lawyers. Tuesday’s verdict claimed that Ren also “abused his power” in his role at Huayuan Group, which caused more than 116 million yuan of losses to the state-owned holding company and more than 53 million yuan worth of property losses for the group.
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