Outspoken Chinese billionaire jailed 18 years for 'provoking trouble'

BEIJING • Chinese billionaire Sun Dawu was sentenced to 18 years in jail for crimes including "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" as well as illegally occupying farmland.

Sun had built a major conglomerate in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, employing more than 9,000 people in businesses ranging from poultry processing and pet food to hospitals, schools and resorts.

But he was also outspoken on issues including human rights, and was one of the very few people to openly accuse the Chinese government of covering up the extent of an African swine fever outbreak, which infected one of his farms in 2019 and later devastated much of the country's industry.

He had also been embroiled in a land dispute with a local government-owned farm, according to media reports, and was detained with a group of family members and employees last year.

Sun had said dozens of employees were injured in a fight with the police after they tried to stop state farm staff from tearing down one of the firm's buildings last year.

The People's Court of Gaobeidian city in Hebei province said on its WeChat account on Wednesday that Sun was guilty of offences including assembling a crowd to attack state agencies, obstructing government workers from performing their duties, sabotaging production and operations, and illegal mining. Sun was also fined 3.11 million yuan ($652,000).

Last year, former property executive Ren Zhiqiang was also sentenced to 18 years in prison for graft in what critics at the time called an especially harsh sentence amid an ongoing clampdown on dissent in the country.

Ren had referred to Mr Xi Jinping as "a clown" after a speech the Chinese President made about government efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

REUTERS