On Nov. 17, the former richest man in the megacity of Nanjing was arrested. Yang Zongyi is a billionaire entrepreneur in China. He’s the second billionaire to be arrested within recent weeks.
Sun Dawu, a well known Chinese entrepreneur, was detained weeks ago for speeches criticizing the communist regime. His company was taken over by authorities and including its around 30 subsidiaries.
According to Japanese media company Nikkei, over the last three years, about 100 private companies in China have been nationalized by the regime.
That number has increased from about 20 in 2018, to 30 in 2019, to more than 50 in 2020. The CCP’s crackdown on private companies in recent years has had a huge impact.
Some companies were taken advantage of when the business was hit by the pandemic. Especially those with strategic importance, like semiconductor chip makers, wind power plants, and pharmaceutical companies. Authorities forced companies in these fields to accept state control.
Prime minister Scott Morrison said on Nov. 19 “we will always be Australia” in an attempt to push back against recent complaints from China.
Tensions between the two countries arose this year when Australia called for an international investigation into the origins of the CCP virus. In response, China imposed several trade reprisals on Australian goods.
The communist regime blamed Australia for going after what it called China’s “core interests,” and urged the country to “correct its mistakes.”