The New York Times reported (July 24) that the CCP had "expelled" outspoken and prominent 69-year old property tycoon and 'princeling' Ren Zhiqiang who had denounced Chinese President Xi Jinping in an open letter posted on WeChat earlier this year saying “I see not an emperor standing there exhibiting his ‘new clothes,’ but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing to be an emperor.” Ren Zhiqiang said he hoped the party would “wake up from ignorance” and oust the leaders getting in its way. The expulsion paves the way for his criminal prosecution.  Announcing (July 23) the expulsion of Ren Zhiqiang, the CCP said that it had seized his assets that included the possession of golf club memberships for “serious violations of discipline and law”. Officials also accused him of “colluding with his children to accumulate wealth without restraint.”

(Comment: The move would have sent a  chill through China's entrepreneurs and other business leaders who had, in March this year handed a 9-point letter to Xi Jinping asking for reforms and which included a demand for the release of Ren Zhiqiang. Another 'open' letter, purportedly authored by China's 'princelings' and posted on WeChat in May and which demanded an emergency meeting to discuss the removal of Xi Jinping, also included a demand for information regarding Ren Zhiqiang and his release. The expulsion of Ren Zhiqiang from the CCP appears to demonstrate the party’s escalating efforts to quash dissent among the elite and resolve to use him as an example to show that no one is above its demands of unflinching political loyalty. Ren Zhiqiang, incidentally, disappeared from his New York apartment in March 2020. )