The mystery behind China’s tycoon disappearances

[ad_1]

Disappearance of Chinese banker renews concerns about state repression against businessmen. Analysts say the series of cases could lead investors to lose confidence in China. One of China’s top bankers, Bao Fan, has been missing for over two weeks Bobby Yip/REUTERS The sudden disappearance of a Chinese billionaire has once again put a spotlight on China’s crackdown on prominent businesspeople. Bao Fan, one of the country’s most important bankers – who founded China Renaissance in 2005 – has been missing for over two weeks. In a statement to the stock market on Sunday (2/26), China Renaissance Holdings said that Bao was currently “cooperating with an investigation carried out by certain authorities” in China. The company did not provide further details on the whereabouts or condition of its chairman, whose disappearance has raised concerns about a possible Beijing crackdown on the country’s financial services sector. Who is at risk? After Bao’s disappearance, the company’s shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell as much as 29%, before rising 2.3% on Monday. Some experts describe the disappearances of businessmen as “terrifying”. And Bao is not the only victim. Last September, China Renaissance chairman Cong Lin was arrested following an investigation into his work at the financial leasing division of state-owned bank ICBC, according to economic news agency Caixin. “We have no idea about their whereabouts,” said William Nee, research and advocacy coordinator for Chinese Human Rights Defenders (DDHC). “We don’t know if they are being held in a hotel or if they are in some kind of prison cell,” he said. Nee added that all these practices violate the rule of law, and the trend of prominent businessmen being targeted shows that Beijing’s persecution is not just affecting dissidents or ethnic minorities. “In this case, we see some of the core issues in China, including enforced disappearance and denied access to lawyers, affecting some of the most powerful people in the country,” Nee said in an interview with DW. Jack Ma, China’s richest man, was also missing for months Bobby Yip/REUTERS Why does China target prominent businesspeople? While the international community sees enforced disappearance as a type of human rights violation, some analysts say the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views it as “standard practice”. “The Chinese government has used the same method with many people – and the only reason we know about the disappearance of prominent businessmen is that they are very important,” said Yaqiu Wang, a researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW) in China. Bao is not the first Chinese billionaire to be forced to disappear or jailed. In recent years, about half a dozen Chinese billionaires have gone through this process for periods of time. Guo Guangchang, nicknamed “Warren Buffet of China” and founder of Fosun Group, disappeared for a few days in 2015. Furthermore, Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua disappeared in Hong Kong in 2017, and his trial began last July. As early as 2020, Alibaba founder Jack Ma also disappeared from the public eye for several months as he prepared to take his digital payments company Ant Financial public. Too powerful for the CCP? Some experts say the reason Beijing is taking tough measures against business people is that they need to ensure that their companies or business practices are in line with the CCP’s priorities. “Xi Jinping believes this is how the system is supposed to work, and while business people make profits, pay taxes and hire people, they also need to ensure that their businesses are in line with the CCP’s goals,” said Dexter Roberts of the Security Initiative. Indo-Pacific, from the think tank Atlantic Council. “Part of the crackdown is a real concern about control [dessas empresas] about sensitive data, and only part of that is the influence of these companies. For Xi Jinping, it’s all about these private companies becoming too powerful and challenging state-owned companies. In his opinion, they are not showing the CCP due respect,” Roberts said in an interview with DW. DDHC’s Nee added that in the cases of Jack Ma and Bao Fan, they were likely targeted by the Chinese government due to concerns of Beijing about their businesses threatening the political monopoly on power or gaining control over the funding of the tech sector in China. they also want companies to be under the party’s firm guidance,” he said. How will the trend affect China’s private sector? As Beijing’s crackdown on prominent businessmen continues, experts say the trend will cause investors to lose confidence in the Chinese market. “The CCP has been cracking down on private companies for many years, and sometimes its policies can lead to the sudden crackdown of an entire industry,” said Chinese jurist Te ng Biao. “The arbitrary arrests and convictions of Chinese businessmen could damage private entrepreneurs or cause investors to lose confidence in the Chinese market, China’s political future and the country’s investment environment,” he said. “Many domestic and international businessmen lost confidence in China and took the money they were supposed to invest in China elsewhere.” ‘Scaring off businesspeople’ Roberts agrees that the trend is creating a chilling effect on businesspeople in China. “Xi Jinping and CCP members think they can scare business people into doing business, creating jobs and paying taxes,” Roberts told DW. “Because China’s economy is in bad shape, they need the private sector more than they thought.” DDHC’s Nee added that for Chinese businesspeople who hold a different nationality, there is no guarantee that they will be spared from Beijing’s ongoing crackdown, as the case of Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua has shown. “If you’re a foreign businessman, you really need to think carefully about your security and what you would do if you were detained in China,” Nee told DW. “As we see in the case of Bao Fan, international laws and standards on detention are not recognized in China. The Chinese government does not respect international laws and standards,” she added. HRW’s Yaqiu Wang believes that Beijing’s repression of civil society will increase during Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term. “Judging from the last 10 years of Xi Jinping’s rule, the trend of repression will become more and more serious,” he said. “Their methods will become more brutal and secretive, and people’s basic rights will be less guaranteed.”

[ad_2]

Source link