MCLC: activist billionaire arrested

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: activist billionaire arrested
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (9/13/13):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/world/asia/activist-chinese-billionaire-i
s-arrested.html

Activist Chinese Billionaire Is Arrested
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — A Chinese billionaire venture capitalist who has strongly
advocated more liberal political and social policies was detained Friday
by Beijing police officers, friends of the businessman said.

The businessman, Wang Gongquan, 51, is a close friend of Xu Zhiyong, a
lawyer who was formally arrested last month on a charge of “assembling a
crowd to disrupt order in a public place.” Mr. Wang was detained on the
same charge, according to a photograph of the warrant that circulated
online on Friday. The warrant indicated Mr. Wang had been detained by
officers from the traffic safety bureau of the Beijing Police Department.

Mr. Wang was taken from his home by more than 20 police officers around
11:30 a.m., said Chen Min, another well-known rights advocate, who goes by
the pen name Xiao Shu. The police searched Mr. Wang’s home for more than
two hours and took away a computer, two framed pictures and small “citizen
pins” that Mr. Wang presumably had made at some point, Mr. Chen said.

The pins might have been collected by the police as potential evidence in
a case against Mr. Wang. They appear to be similar to “citizen stamps”
that Mr. Wang had ordered made years ago. Caixin, an investigative
business magazine, reported in 2011 that Mr. Wang had commissioned 100 of
the stamps, which were the same size as a one renminbi coin and bore the
engraved images of the Chinese flag, an open book with the title
“Constitution,” and the phrase “Chinese Citizen.”

Few businessmen who have amassed as much wealth as Mr. Wang are as
outspoken about their liberal political views. Mr. Wang began building his
fortune as a real estate investor in the Vantone enterprise on Hainan
Island in the 1990s, which became a springboard for other businessmen who
grew affluent from the property business. Mr. Wang joined a venture
capital firm and later founded his own investment company.

In 2005, Mr. Wang began attending meetings held by Mr. Xu and working with
Mr. Xu’s advocacy group, the Open Constitution Initiative. The Caixin
profile said Mr. Wang became involved in a wide range of social issues,
like condemning “black jails” where security officers secretly detained
aggrieved petitioners, and supporting rights for the children of migrant
workers, who are usually barred from studying in public schools in the
cities where their parents work.

Since a Communist Party leadership transition last November, advocates of
more liberal policies have urged the new leaders to follow and enforce the
Chinese Constitution, which is routinely ignored by the party. Senior
officials have pushed back against those calls, and editorials in official
party publications in recent months have criticized supporters of
constitutionalism.

That attack on liberal ideas has coincided with a security crackdown on
dissent. Many liberal Chinese have been detained by the police. The
crackdown has extended to prominent Internet personalities who often
discuss social issues on Twitter-like microblog accounts, which can have
millions of followers. Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an international
advocacy group, estimated that between March and August, more than 50
Chinese involved in political activism were detained.

Mr. Xu was arrested this summer against that backdrop. At the time, Mr.
Wang spoke with journalists about his plight. Reporters also contacted Mr.
Wang when Mr. Chen was detained temporarily last month. Mr. Wang said in
an interview: “A lot of people have asked me, after Xu Zhiyong and Xiao
Shu, are you worried? I don’t know. Up to now, state security hasn’t
contacted me. But on the day I decided to work with Xu Zhiyong, I had
already prepared for the worst.”

Mr. Chen and Mr. Wang have helped circulate an online petition calling for
Mr. Xu’s release.

In 2011, Mr. Wang was thrust into prominence for an entirely different
reason. He posted a message on his microblog saying he was leaving his
wife because he had fallen in love with another woman, Wang Qin. The
message was widely circulated, as were videos that Mr. Wang made for
online viewing in which he philosophized about love.

“I am giving up everything and eloping with Wang Qin,” he wrote. “I feel
ashamed and so am leaving without saying goodbye. I kneel down and beg
forgiveness!”

Patrick Zuo and Shi Da contributed research.