China Party to Punish Former Tycoon for Microblog Posts
China's ruling Communist Party will impose "severe intra-party penalties" on a former property tycoon whose microblogs were closed at the weekend after he criticised government policy, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Microblog portals such as Weibo.com and t.qq.com, among China's most popular, were ordered to shut the accounts of Ren Zhiqiang, a retired top executive from a state-controlled property developer who had more than 30 million online followers.
China's Internet regulator said that Ren, a party member, had been "spreading illegal information".
Chinese media has accused Ren of making remarks criticising state media and questioning whether taxpayers money should be used to promote the government.
The Beijing city Xicheng district party committee said that Ren had "re...