I blogged about Zeng Chengjie execution over the weekend. The responsible authorities’ constant changes of explanation over why his family was not notified have since become a source of grim comedy, to wit:
We didn’t notify his daughter because we don’t have to under the law. You mean we do have to? Oh, right. Actually, what we meant to say was that he didn’t want them to be notified. No, cancel that: we notified his ex wife and family. No you can’t speak to them – they’re in prison too. OK, well we did try and notify his daughter, but we couldn’t find her. You mean she was protesting outside the courthouse all this time? How about that! Oh, and one last thing. You know we said we executed him by lethal injection? We meant to say that we shot him. No, don’t worry about the funeral. Already taken care of!
Adds Offbeat China:
Many businessmen, who usually keep their mouth shut about politics, break their silent this time. Like 王冉, CEO of China eCapital, commented: “I share [Zeng Shan’s post] because this is the reality of China’s judicial system that every one of us needs to face every day.” 王石, another Chinese real estate tycoon, called for more transparency: “Please stop secret execution!.”
The case as a whole sounds like a classic provincial corruption clusterfuck: the impact of social media on Chinese politics is generally overstated but it does mean that you just can’t bury people like you used to, at least not people in whom the Sinosphere’s various blogging business types and their many followers take an interest . Still, from the central government’s point of view, having a bunch of very scared real estate tycoons out there is probably not something they're especially displeased about right now.
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