Sun Dawu, a well-known Chinese farmer-entrepreneur, was formally arrested by the authorities on eight charges, but the key one, “speech crimes,” was missing, according to the U.S. media. (composite photo)
Sun Dawu, a well-known Chinese farmer-entrepreneur, was formally arrested by the authorities, who, according to the U.S. media, brought eight charges against him, but the key one was missing: “speech”. Last year, Sun Dawu published an article criticizing Chinese society as “social blackness” and “seeing ghosts alive in the daytime and people dead at night”.
Yang Bin, the legal director of Dawu Group, confirmed the news of Sun Dawu’s arrest on Weibo on April 22, saying that the arrest notice for Sun Dawu was issued by the Hebei Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau.
According to the notice of arrest circulating online, Sun Dawu was formally arrested on April 21. He was charged with eight counts: the crime of illegal absorption of public deposits, the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, the crime of illegal mining, the crime of gathering a crowd to storm state organs, the crime of illegal occupation of agricultural land, the crime of forced trading, the crime of disrupting production and operation, and the crime of obstructing public service.
On that day, almost the entire leadership of Dawu Group was arrested, including deputy supervisors Sun Dehua and Sun Zhihua, chairman Sun Meng, group general manager Liu Ping, group deputy general manager Jin Fengyu, and group office secretary Ji Wei Lian were all arrested. They were charged with illegal mining, forced trading, and fraud.
People familiar with the case of Sun Dawu said that the authorities ordered the arrest of all executives of Dawu Group, nominally caused by a land dispute between the group and a state farm in Baoding, Hebei, but in reality the authorities could not tolerate Sun Dawu’s outspokenness.
The Voice of America also said that of the eight charges against Sun, the only one missing was the crucial “speech crime.
This “thoughtful” and “outspoken farmer-entrepreneur” likes to participate in political discussions and express his views on the country’s development. Sun Dawu once faced the camera and bluntly expressed his belief that “the world trend will always be towards democracy and the rule of law, and China will not be an exception, but it cannot be rushed.”
In 2003, the Dawu Group was warned by the police for publishing three articles on its website: “The Construction of a Well-off Society and the Difficulties”, “In Memory of Li Shenzhi”, and “A Dialogue between Two Private Businessmen on China’s Current Situation and History”.
The police claimed that the articles “seriously damaged the image of state organs” and ordered the website to be reorganized, suspended for six months and fined 15,000 yuan.
On Oct. 13 last year, Sun Dawu posted another article on Weibo criticizing the darkness of Chinese society, “Some people say, what do you mean by social darkness? The sunny day, you can not see the truth of the matter; bustling, you can not hear the different voices; powerful and domineering, reasonable and justified inch difficult to walk; day to see the ghosts alive, the night to see people dead”.
In October of the same year, Sun Dawu also said, “The communal system was invented by the Chinese Communist Party, and the economic basis of socialism is supposed to be a private economy, but in practice it is very difficult to achieve.”
Last November, Sun Dawu and 29 other executives of the group were arrested, 25 of whom are still in custody, including Sun Dawu’s wife, son and daughter-in-law. The local government has reportedly sent 29 working groups to take over Sun Dawu’s company.
This is not the first time Sun Dawu was arrested, in 2003 he was sentenced to three years in prison for “illegal absorption of public deposits”, suspended for four years. Sun Dawu was interviewed by a financial reporter after his release from prison, he identified himself as “a clean person”, “I understand the subterfuge, not to adapt, still my own way, I can succeed, but will not have a good end.”
The news that Sun Dawu has been charged with eight counts this time has sparked widespread public debate, with experts analyzing the possibility that he will be given a heavy sentence.
Cao Yaxue, editor-in-chief of Humane China, said in response, “What is the Chinese story of Sun Dawu who, after starting with a hundred acres of barren land, a thousand chickens and fifty pigs, and after 36 years of making a large $2 billion agricultural and livestock enterprise, was cut down by the Communist Party? This is the Chinese story. What is the fate of the Chinese people? This is the fate of the Chinese people. A magic spell.”
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