Editor’s note for Wednesday, July 28, 2021

My thoughts today:

“Sūn Dàwǔ 孙大午, a rural tycoon and outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party, was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday, the latest in a string of harsh punishments meted out by China against business leaders,” reports Paul Mozur of the New York Times.

Mozur added, by tweet: “I was surprised to realize Wú Xiǎohuī 吴小晖 and Rèn Zhìqiáng 任志强 both got 18 year sentences before Sun Dawu got the same today. It’s incredibly harsh, but I suppose it’s the new standard in Xi Jinping’s China. A good reason for business leaders to retire early.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports, “Investors have rushed to exit bets on China’s health sector this week, fearing that a regulatory crackdown that sparked panic selling in the tech and education sectors might hit the medical industry next.”

What is China doing to its private sector giants? There is no simple answer to that question, and there are many different factors behind the very different campaigns against fintech, ecommerce, education, and online media companies. We’re hoping to explain the new business realities with a timeline of regulatory actions and a feature story to explain them, which we’ll publish on The China Project later this week.

China’s new ambassador to the United States, Qín Gāng 秦刚, arrived in Washington D.C. today. Aside from his disapproval of rock band Guns N’ Roses I mentioned yesterday, what else do we know about him? See our summary below, or click through to The China Project for details.

Upcoming event on July 29: Traditional medicine and our modern world.

Our word of the day is Afghanistan’s biggest neighbor (阿富汗最大邻国 āfùhàn zuì dà línguó), which, China’s foreign minister reminded the Taliban today, is China.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief