From the Wall Street Journal, updated Sept. 24, 2024 1:48 am ET:
Government adviser is detained as Xi Jinping targets negative comments about Chinese economy
A prominent economist at one of China’s top think tanks was placed under investigation, detained and removed from his posts after he allegedly criticized leader Xi Jinping’s management of the world’s second-largest economy in a private chat group, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation of Zhu Hengpeng, who for the past decade was deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, comes as the Communist Party ramps up efforts to suppress negative commentary about China’s economic health.
Beijing has struggled to revitalize a sluggish economy weighed down by a real estate slump and tepid sentiment among consumers and businesses—weaknesses that, some economists say, have been exacerbated by Xi’s efforts to boost the state sector, rein in what he considers capitalistic excess, and protect China against perceived foreign threats.
Under Xi, the party has directed a far-reaching clampdown on dissent that has punished critics of his leadership inside the party and beyond, with some high-profile targets, including influential business people and academics, getting detained, imprisoned or forced into exile. Authorities have also tightened controls on data, curtailing access to information prized by investors and analysts for insights into China’s economy.
Zhu, who turns 55 this month, was detained in the spring after he allegedly made some impolitic remarks in a private group chat on the WeChat mobile-messaging app, according to people familiar with the matter.
His remarks included comments about China’s flagging economy and veiled criticism of Xi that referred to his mortality, one of the people said.
It couldn’t be determined which alleged offenses were the focus of the investigation. Zhu has since been removed from his positions at the CASS Institute of Economics, where he was also deputy party secretary. Also, his name has disappeared from the online list of personnel at a think tank affiliated with Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University.
CASS, a ministerial-level think tank directly subordinate to the State Council, as China’s cabinet is known, advises the party and government leadership on policymaking.
Zhu worked for more than two decades at the think tank, where he specialized in health economics, advising the government on policies related to hospital overhauls and access to medical care, and became an influential commentator on such issues. He was named deputy director of the CASS Institute of Economics in 2014.
He also served as an independent director at China Meheco Group, a state-owned pharmaceutical firm, from 2013 to 2015, according to corporate disclosures.
The status of the investigation of Zhu couldn’t be determined and it wasn’t clear whether he had legal representation. He didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment. No one answered the door at a Beijing apartment listed as his address on a Hong Kong corporate filing....
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