Communist Party Warns Outspoken Members With Tycoon's Punishment
- Ex-developer Ren to face `serious' discipline for Web comments
- Message comes as leaders gather for National People's Congress
Ren Zhiqiang.
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Communist Party officials in Beijing have pledged to "seriously punish" a retired property developer who criticized President Xi Jinping’s state media clampdown, urging other party members to learn from his example.
Former Huayuan Property Co. Chairman Ren Zhiqiang "constantly issued illegal information and wrong opinions on the Internet, which caused a baneful influence and seriously damaged the image of the party," the party committee in Beijing’s Xicheng district said in a statement posted Monday on its Weibo account. Ren, a friend of party discipline chief Wang Qishan, was known for airing outspoken views to his more than 37 million Weibo followers before Internet regulators ordered his social media accounts closed Sunday.