China Puts a Tycoon, Ren Zhiqiang, on Probation for Criticizing Policies
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — Chinese Communist Party officials have put an outspoken property tycoon who is a party member on a one-year probation for writing online comments criticizing President Xi Jinping’s propaganda policies, according to reports published on Monday by Chinese news websites.

The probation means the tycoon, Ren Zhiqiang, could be expelled from the party, which has more than 85 million members, if he steps out of line again. The news was announced on a public holiday by party discipline officials in the Xicheng district of Beijing, a sign that the party wanted to get the news out quietly, perhaps because of Mr. Ren’s popular online presence.

Mr. Ren wrote comments on his microblog in February questioning a major announcement that month by Mr. Xi that Chinese news organizations must serve the party. Mr. Ren wrote on his main microblog, which had nearly 38 million followers, that the Chinese news media should serve the people and not the party.

Mr. Ren had a reputation for posting contentious statements, which earned him the nickname “the Cannon.” Censors quickly deleted his posts on Mr. Xi’s new policy, and a website managed by the Beijing party committee’s propaganda bureau said Mr. Ren had “lost his party spirit” and taken up “opposing the party.”

Then officials at the Cyberspace Administration of China, which controls Internet content, decided to muzzle him by deleting his main microblog account, which had been hosted on the Sina Weibo platform.

The Internet control agency took the unusual step of issuing a long statement explaining its move. A spokesman, Jiang Jun, said in a written statement issued on Feb. 28 that “Internet users have reported that Ren Zhiqiang’s account had been continuously publishing illegal information, and the impact was vile.”

The censure of Mr. Ren came as a surprise to his friends and online followers, and some liberal Chinese rushed to his defense. Zhang Xin, another prominent real estate developer, posted news of the deletion of Mr. Ren’s Sina Weibo account the day it happened. Some Chinese scholars, journalists and party insiders wrote commentary criticizing the censure.

The public pushback gave a window into the growing frustration among intellectuals over the broad crackdown by Mr. Xi on freedom of speech.

Many Chinese businesspeople such as Mr. Ren see party membership as useful, in part because of the access it allows to officials and the party elite.

Mr. Ren did not answer calls made on Monday evening to his cellphone.

Some political analysts also noted that Mr. Ren was a friend of Wang Qishan — the powerful head of the party’s anticorruption agency and an ally of Mr. Xi, who has made the fight against corruption in the party a touchstone policy.

The analysts said there had been signs for months that there may be tensions or a power struggle underway in the top party ranks between Mr. Wang and Liu Yunshan, the overseer of the vast propaganda apparatus. Both men are on the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the top governing body in China. The analysts said the attack by censors and the Internet agency on Mr. Ren might have been a swipe by Mr. Liu and his allies at Mr. Wang.

Elite party politics in China continues to be opaque under Mr. Xi, and there is often speculation of where the major players stand and who wields greater power and influence.

不認同「黨媒姓黨」任志強「留黨察看」

中共北京西城區黨委日前公布四起處理黨員幹部違紀案件結果，其中包括網路名人任志強。任志強今年二月因對「黨媒姓黨」發表不同意見，遭到網路禁聲，近日中共北京市西城區黨委又對他作出留黨察看一年的處分。

整起行動被視為中共對紅二代出手的第一刀，公報中仍稱任為「同志」。消息指中共高層認為，任案對相關人等已發揮效用，對任志強處理是「高高舉起，輕輕放下」。

人民網報導。日前經中共西城區紀委常委會議研究並報區委批准，對四起黨員幹部違紀案件進行處理，西城區委通報處理情況：華遠集團原黨委副書記、董事長任志強同志多次在微博、博客等網絡平台和其他公開場合，公開發表違背四項基本原則、違背黨的路線方針政策等方面的錯誤言論，其行為嚴重違反黨的政治紀律，決定給予任志強同志留黨察看一年處分。

二月十九日，中共總書記習近平在新聞輿論工作座談會上強調「黨媒姓黨」，在思想上政治上行動上，同黨中央保持高度一致。素有「任大炮」之稱的任志強，卻發微博稱「徹底的分為對立的兩個陣營了？當所有的媒體有了姓，並且不代表人民的利益時，人民就被拋棄到被遺忘的角落了! 」「人民政府啥時候改黨政府了？花的是黨費嗎？」任志強的言論立即招來官網眾多批評。

任志強的言論引起網路反應兩極，有人支持他，但也有人批評他。指責他的人認為，任志強有意將黨置於人民的對立面，大陸官媒也紛紛發文譴責任志強「反黨」，要求將其開除出黨。

大陸國家網路信息辦公室立即下令新浪、騰訊等網站，依法依規關閉任志強微博帳號；大陸國家網信辦發言人姜軍稱，任志強微博帳號持續公開發布違法信息，造成惡劣影響。

中共北京市西城區黨委當時下發「關於正確認識任志強嚴重違紀問題的通知」，指任志強「作為一名共產黨員」，在網上持續公開發布違法信息和錯誤言論並產生惡劣影響，嚴重損害黨形像。區委將嚴格按照「中國共產黨紀律處分條例」，嚴肅處理任志強。

任志強一九五一年出生，山東萊州人，著名地產商。北京市政協委員，華遠地產股份有限公司董事長，兼任北京市商業銀行監事、新華人壽保險董事，直到一四年退休。

任志強出生在高幹家庭。他的父親任泉生中共建政後擔任過商業部副部長，任志強兩、三歲的時候，隨父母定居北京。任志強在網上以敢言著稱，先後當選「最具影響力地產批評家」、「年度新銳人物」、「影響中國年度教育人物」和「微博鐵人」等獎項。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/world/asia/china-ren-zhiqiang.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160503/c03chinaren/zh-hant/

2016-05-03．聯合報．A12．兩岸．特派記者賴錦宏、記者汪莉絹