Dear President Xi Jinping, I am Ren Zhiqiang’s daughter. I implore you, based on humanitarian principles, to allow my father to be released on medical parole and to seek medical treatment abroad. Allow him to reunite with his family in his final moments, and receive the care and treatment he deserves. Please give my father an opportunity to seek medical treatment abroad. This is not only the last hope and protection for a family, but also a respect for a life, a compassionate and empathetic decision. It will become a testament to your benevolence and magnanimity in history, rather than leaving a heartbreaking regret.
Sincerely, Ren Zhiqiang’s Daughter October 2, 2024
The letter I just read is an open letter circulating on the foreign internet on October 3rd. The author of this open letter is Ren Zhiqiang’s daughter, Ren Xinyi. After multiple verifications, this letter is authentic. This letter was first posted by Ren Xinyi on her WeChat Moments on October 2nd. As you can see, this open letter is actually a screenshot of a WeChat Moments post. There are two symbols below this screenshot: a small trash can and a one-minute timeline.
What does this indicate? It indicates that, first of all, she took the screenshot herself. Because in WeChat Moments, if you want to screenshot someone else’s post, you won’t have the trash can symbol; only if you have the right to delete the post will the trash can symbol appear. So this letter must have been screenshot by Ren Xinyi herself. And what does the one-minute symbol indicate? It indicates that she took the screenshot and quickly deleted it immediately after posting it to her Moments. The reason for her deletion is also very simple: if she doesn’t delete this letter, it is very likely to cause public opinion and lead to her WeChat being blocked. Now the CCP not only blocks WeChat public accounts, but also blocks personal WeChat accounts at will. If you post sensitive information in Moments, your account will be directly blocked. So she quickly deleted the letter after taking the screenshot.
This letter was passed around in Ren Zhiqiang’s circle of entrepreneur friends. These entrepreneurs were all his good friends before Ren Zhiqiang was imprisoned, and they have been following Lao Ren’s situation over the years. Thus, on October 3rd, this letter was spread to the foreign internet and was reported on Twitter and in foreign media.
I should say, after reading this letter, I feel quite uncomfortable. Why? You see, Ren Zhiqiang’s daughter, now writing to Xi Jinping, has such a humble tone, almost a plea, begging Xi Jinping to spare her father. This letter also contains a lot of information, and today we will analyze this heartbreaking open letter.
Ren Zhiqiang’s physical condition
First of all, the letter mentions that Ren Zhiqiang’s current physical condition is very poor. Ren Zhiqiang was imprisoned in Yancheng Prison after being sentenced. Yancheng Prison is a prison directly under the Ministry of Justice, while Qincheng Prison is a prison directly under the Ministry of Public Security. Officials at the vice-ministerial level or above go to Qincheng Prison, while officials below the vice-ministerial level are imprisoned in Yancheng Prison. Yancheng Prison has new facilities and better conditions. However, Ren Zhiqiang did not enjoy basic human rights after entering Yancheng Prison. For example, he was entitled to visit his family once a month. When he first entered prison, his right to visit was deprived, and he didn’t even have the right to make phone calls. After a few months, he was allowed to make phone calls, but the call time was very short. It was not until a year later that his family was allowed to visit him once a month. It can be seen that Ren Zhiqiang’s basic rights as a prisoner were not guaranteed.
In addition, Ren Zhiqiang suffered from prostate enlargement before his imprisonment, and he had already scheduled surgery, but he was arrested in March 2020. He applied for surgery many times in prison, but it was never approved. Prostate disease is tormenting, especially at night, requiring frequent trips to the toilet, which greatly affects sleep quality for an elderly person. And this letter also reveals that Ren Zhiqiang has asthma. Although prostate enlargement is painful, it is not life-threatening; while asthma, if not effectively treated, can be life-threatening. The appearance of asthma indicates that Ren Zhiqiang’s immunity has dropped significantly, and if it cannot be treated in time, this disease may take his life. Ren Zhiqiang is already 73 years old this year. If he cannot get timely treatment in prison, these diseases may really take his life.
Ren Zhiqiang applied for surgery many times in prison, but the prison’s feedback to him was to take medication for treatment, believing that his condition had improved and did not meet the indications for surgery, so no surgery was arranged. He could only passively accept this treatment.
The involvement of his brother
Second, the letter also revealed that Ren Zhiqiang’s son was implicated in his case and sentenced to 9 years in prison. This information had never been reported by the media before. We mentioned before when we did a program on Ren Zhiqiang that Ren Zhiqiang did not hire a lawyer during the court trial and did not appeal. He believed that he was innocent, that the court’s judgment of him for corruption and bribery was not valid, and that he was arrested because he criticized Xi Jinping, calling Xi Jinping a “clown with his pants off, an emperor without clothes.” This article angered Xi Jinping. If there was no this article, would Ren Zhiqiang have been arrested? Obviously not.
According to the facts of the crime determined by the court, Ren Zhiqiang embezzled more than 40 million yuan, of which more than 30 million yuan came through his son. Ren Zhiqiang has been married twice in his life. His first wife gave birth to a son, and after they divorced, this son changed his surname to his mother’s, with the surname Yu. Ren Zhiqiang and his second wife gave birth to Ren Xinyi. After his son with the surname Yu became an adult, Ren Zhiqiang’s company Huayuan had several business dealings with his son. One was a financial advisory fee of more than 20 million yuan, and the other was a steel contract of 13 million yuan. The court ultimately determined that this money was embezzled by Ren Zhiqiang.
As far as I know, Ren Zhiqiang had an internal deal with the special investigation team at the time. He said that he could plead guilty, but the premise was not to implicate his son. The special investigation team agreed at the time, but in the end, Ren Zhiqiang was sentenced to 18 years in prison and fined 4.2 million yuan, and his son was also sentenced to 9 years. When Ren Zhiqiang learned of this news in prison, it was like a bolt from the blue. He believed that the price of his confession was to exchange for his son’s innocence, but in the end, the special investigation team went back on their word. This made Ren Zhiqiang feel very angry, but he could do nothing.
The failure to apply for medical parole
Third, Ren Xinyi mentioned in the letter that their family had applied for Ren Zhiqiang’s medical parole through normal channels many times, but they never received a positive response, and finally had to publicly ask for mercy. This means that Ren Zhiqiang’s family has been trying to apply for medical parole for him through various channels over the past few years. Normal channels include application letters and asking high-ranking officials within the party for help. For example, Ren Zhiqiang’s relationship with Wang Qishan was extraordinary. Wang Qishan was Ren Zhiqiang’s middle school counselor, and later took Ren Zhiqiang to Shaanxi to work in the countryside. Their relationship was deep. However, there was also discord between Ren Zhiqiang and Wang Qishan. Ren Zhiqiang wrote an article in a small circle, criticizing Wang Qishan’s anti-corruption methods. He believed that Wang Qishan’s actions were harmful to the country. Since then, their relationship has become estranged. Therefore, Wang Qishan did not plead for him after Ren Zhiqiang was arrested.
Will Xi Jinping let Ren Zhiqiang go?
So, will Xi Jinping let Ren Zhiqiang, who is now seriously ill, go? I don’t think so. First of all, although China claims that there are no political prisoners, there are actually political prisoners, divided into two categories. One category is officials who have lost power in the internal party struggle, and the other is dissidents. Ren Zhiqiang belongs to the opposition within the party. He opposes Xi Jinping’s policies, not the Communist Party itself. The nature of his case is similar to that of Bo Xilai, Chen Liangyu, and others, all of whom are victims of internal party political struggles. Therefore, Xi Jinping’s way of dealing with Ren Zhiqiang belongs to the internal party’s family law.
According to past cases, officials who have lost power within the party are usually sentenced, but they will be released on medical parole soon after. Jiang Qing, Chen Xitong, and Chen Liangyu are all like this. But Ren Zhiqiang’s situation is special. He offended Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping personally instructed that he be sentenced to 18 years in prison, which means that only Xi Jinping himself can let Ren Zhiqiang out. But considering that Ren Zhiqiang once publicly criticized Xi Jinping, calling him a “clown with his pants off,” it can be seen that Xi Jinping still holds a grudge against him and will not easily let him out.
Nevertheless, if Xi Jinping lets Ren Zhiqiang go, he may gain a better international reputation. Ren Xinyi promised in the letter that if Ren Zhiqiang could go abroad, he would no longer speak out. I believe this promise is sincere. Ren Zhiqiang’s son is still in the hands of the Communist Party. As a hostage, Ren Zhiqiang would not dare to speak out even if he went abroad. Therefore, letting Ren Zhiqiang go abroad is a more stable choice.
In addition, if Ren Zhiqiang dies in prison, it will not be good for Xi Jinping and the Communist Party. This will make Xi Jinping bear a blood debt, and his international reputation will also be damaged. Therefore, from both public and private perspectives, Xi Jinping should let Ren Zhiqiang go abroad for treatment. But whether he can make this decision in the end depends on Xi Jinping’s attitude.
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