Chinese farmer-entrepreneur Sun Dawu was taken away by police early Wednesday morning (November 11). He was charged with “provoking and provoking trouble” and “disrupting production and operation”.
Sun Dawu is the founder of the Hebei Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group, once known as the “chicken champion”. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Da Wu Group until 2005, when he retired and became chairman of the group’s supervisory board.
Da Wu Group is one of China’s 500 largest private enterprises, with more than 9,000 employees, fixed assets of 2 billion yuan and an annual output value of more than 3 billion yuan.
Witnesses say the police action was taken at midnight. Sun Dawu’s wife, eldest son and group chairman Sun Meng were also detained, and about a dozen people from the company were taken away by police.
Witnesses said the company was surrounded by police and the local government took over all of the Da Ng Group, demanding that all branches and service outlets, except the finance department, operate as usual.
An anonymous employee said that the public security involved in this arrest was about several hundred people (some reports say it was more than 300 police officers), and many people were taken away, about a dozen.
As for the reason for Sun Dawu’s arrest this time, the Chinese domestic media are vague. The news report only said that the public security organs took “criminal compulsory measures” against Sun Dawu and others in accordance with the law, and that the case is currently under investigation.
In August, more than 20 people were reportedly injured in a clash with the police to prevent a state-owned farm from demolishing the company’s home. The company held an employee meeting to publicly protest the crackdown by local authorities.
Sun Da Ngo has a record of being involved in several legal cases before now. Two of these incidents are particularly notable. One was in April 2003, when the company was warned by police for publishing three articles on its website: “The Construction and Difficulties of a Xiaokang Society,” “In Memoriam to Li Shenzhi” and “A Dialogue Between Two Private Businessmen on China’s Current Situation and History.
The police called the articles “seriously damaging the image of state organs” and ordered the website to be revamped, suspended for six months, and fined 15,000 yuan.
Another incident occurred in May when Sun Dawu was arrested for raising more than 180 million yuan, and his two younger brothers, Sun Zhihua, vice chairman of the Dawu Group, and Sun Dehua, general manager, were both detained by police. The local court later sentenced Sun Dawu to three years in prison, four years’ probation and a fine of 100,000 yuan for illegally absorbing public deposits, while the Da Wu Group was also fined 300,000 yuan.
The capital raising incident caused widespread concern and discussion in China at the time. Many people believed that although the Da Nu Group had created much wealth and employment for society, it was excluded from the financial system and could not get bank loans. Sun Dawu’s lawyer said it was probably public opinion that led the court to impose a lighter penalty on Sun Dawu and his company.
The Associated Press has since said that Sun Dawu praised Xu Zhiyong, a human rights lawyer who helped him, more. He may have caused displeasure among those in power by doing so. Xu Zhiyong and some activists were later arrested by authorities on charges of “inciting and subverting state power.
Sun Dawu also praised those lawyers on social media accounts in May this year, saying they had shone a little light on the victims, kept a little faith in the law and lit up their hopes for survival.
Sun Dawu’s most recent public appearance was at a training session for cadres of the Dawu Group held on Oct. 30, the news outlet said.
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