Like many entrepreneurs in China, Geng Xiaonan has found a space to earn a small fortune – in her case, he publishes books on cooking, health and lifestyle.
But unlike many Chinese entrepreneurs, she mingled with critics of the party and arranged dinners and salons that brought together liberal intellectual, retired officials. and longtime dissidents.
Now Ms Geng will stand trial in Beijing on Tuesday and could face years in prison for her support of those who run counter to China’s deepening of authoritarianism, her supporters say. She and her husband, Qin Zhen, are charged with illegal business activities related to their publishing business. Friends and observers maintain that in the eyes of the government, her real transgression has strayed from issues to sympathy with critics of the Communist Party’s power.
Me. Geng, 46, came under increasing scrutiny last year after she jumped to the defense of Xu Zhangrun, a Beijing law professor who was suspended after publishing essays criticizing the party and its top leader, Xi Jinping. .
“It’s just political persecution,” said Cai Xia, a former professor at the Central Party School in Beijing, who had been friends with Ms. for eight years. Geng. Ms Cai moved to the United States, where she denounced the deepening authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party.
“It’s a selective system of enforcement,” she said. Cai added. “They can do whatever they want if they want to commit a crime on you.”
Me. Geng is the latest among a handful of Chinese entrepreneurs who have been detained or imprisoned since last year as the party draws a tougher line on businessmen it sees as challengers to the Beijing government.
In September, authorities arrested Ren Zhiqiang, a retired real estate tycoon who hired Mr. Criticized Xi’s handling of the pandemic, sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of graft and abuse of power. In November, police in the Hebei Province, near Beijing, arrested Sun Dawu, a farm goods entrepreneur who called for economic and political liberalization and worked with local officials for a long time.
Late last year, authorities sentenced Li Huaiqing, a businessman who shared social media messages, to 20 years in prison for fraud, extortion and ‘encouragement to undermine state power’.
“Nowadays, ideological things are shattered; nobody believes in them, ”said Guo Yuhua, a professor at Tsinghua University who had been friends with Ms Geng for many years. “But now that ideological rule has failed, they can also use economic punishment and crime to convict you.”
Most Chinese businessmen accept the party’s rule – despite complaints about taxes, fees and mediation by officials – and many are party members. Only a few venture an official outrage by assisting or interfering with critics of the government.
But larger numbers of entrepreneurs are anxious about their wealth and security under a system that may give party officials so much. The party, in turn, is concerned about the long-term loyalty of entrepreneurs in the country, said Wu Qiang, an independent political analyst in Beijing. The official concerns, he added, appear to be exacerbated after pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, when some business owners in the former British colony supported the protests.
“China’s future economic development depends on entrepreneurs,” he said. Wu said. “But as long as you do business, the party can always use an economic crime to destroy you.”
Me. Geng and mr. Qin published despite the party’s strict control over books by identifying topics that would sell well without violating official limits.
Their successful titles included ‘Fall in Love With Home Meals’ and ‘The Four-Week Yoga Weight Loss Plan’, and me. Geng has regularly appeared on business forums as a host and good, urban example of success.
While other entrepreneurs have renounced politics, Ms. Geng gives critical voices a platform. She hosted parties for former officials who had been captured or fallen outside the party’s favor in recent decades. She arranged a series of online interviews with liberal academics, which according to her friends were cut short after authorities warned her. Friends said her husband, Mr. Qin, was not involved in such activities, although he was caught in the charges of economic crime.
The space for political discourse has shrunk in recent years, as Mr. Xi sharpened the shackles for society. The leader has repeatedly stressed the leadership role of the state sector, and the party has also warned private entrepreneurs to remain loyal.
In September, the Chinese Communist Party introduced new rules aimed at strengthening ties with and overseeing capitalist enterprises. “Unite members of the private sector around the party, and do better to promote the healthy development of the private economy,” he said. Xi said in instructions to officials at the time.
Train can me. Geng may have remained legally intact, except for her powerful support of Professor Xu, the outspoken legal instructor. He was suspended from teaching and research by Tsinghua University in 2019, after releasing a series of essays outlining China’s draconian turn under Mr. Xi condemned.
In July last year, Beijing police detained him for a few days, saying he was suspected of soliciting a prostitute – an accusation that Professor Xu was making a baseless attempt to tarnish his reputation. Around the same time, Tsinghua fired him.
Me. Geng conveyed to Professor Xu’s defense and conveyed information about his disappearance. Shortly afterwards, Ms Geng noticed that she was being followed. She hired a lawyer to represent her if she were to be detained.
“The butcher knife of the authorities can fall at any time,” she said. Geng said in an interview with Radio Free Asia in July when she explained her support for Professor Xu. “They all say that I am also in great danger and that all kinds of omens made me feel the same.”
Me. Geng and her husband were detained in Beijing in September, and police there later said the couple were suspected of publishing books without proper permission. Mrs. Geng’s lawyer, Shang Baojun, said last year that the charge involved thousands of cookbooks that investigators said were not properly licensed. Her friends said the couple would be tried on Tuesday.
Officials at the Haidian District Prosecutor’s Office and Beijing court declined to answer questions about the case or say whether the trial would continue. It was unclear whether the allegations against her and her husband had changed.
Day before the trial of Ms. Geng would start, said Mr. Shang said he no longer represents her and that he can not comment on why. Me. Cai and supporters said it looks like me. Geng was forced to change lawyers, possibly hoping to win a lighter sentence. Under Chinese law, illegal business activities are punishable by up to five years in prison, along with severe economic fines.
“Geng has become a model,” said Zhang Lifan, a historian and retired businessman in Beijing. He cites a Chinese saying: “It kills a chicken to scare the monkeys and warn others not to follow her.”