Investors hold loud protest in heart of Beijing – China’s latest political and current affairs news

Hundreds — or, judging by videos of the event, thousands — of investors in a troubled company called Shanxinhui (善心汇 shànxīnhuì; lit. “kindhearted exchange”) held an energetic protest on July 24 near Yongdingmen, the location of a gate through Beijing’s demolished city walls due south of the Forbidden City and mere miles from Tiananmen Square. The New York Times has a report (paywall) on the event, and Reuters notes that authorities quickly shut down the road with the protests soon after they started. See here for more videos of the event, or this Chinese language blog post by some of the protestors.

Why are they protesting?

• The protest was triggered by the arrest of Shanxinhui’s chairman, Zhang Tianming 张天明, and freezing of the company’s funds. The authorities have accused Zhang of defrauding investors in a pyramid scheme.
• Investors disagree. Many insist that Zhang is honorable, and say that they appreciate the company’s stated purpose of acting as both a charity and an investment program.
• Protests happen frequently throughout China, primarily over environmental, land-use, and local corruption issues, but the Shanxinhui protests were unusual and significant both for their central location and the relatively affluent nature of the crowd.

• Hong Kong
  Mainland China’s criminal law will also apply at Hong Kong’s rail link terminus / SCMP
  Opinion: Hong Kong people don’t need any history lessons from mainland China, thanks / SCMP
• South and East China seas
  Chinese jets intercept U.S. surveillance plane: U.S. officials / Reuters
  China opens cinema on contested island in South China Sea / China Film Insider
• Environment
  Sacred lakes threatened by China’s growing capital / NYT (paywall)
  Public comment sought on Beijing-Xiongan high-speed rail / China Daily
• Military
  Xi Jinping picks war games over military parade for Chinese army’s 90th birthday bash / SCMP
  U.S. within reach: China shows off new and improved advanced missile system / SCMP
  China races ahead in Indian Ocean while India and Japan take baby steps / WSJ (paywall)
• Corruption
  Former political star in China is under Party investigation / NYT (paywall)
  From political star to ‘a sacrificial object’ in China / NYT (paywall)
  See the official announcement of the investigation of Sun Zhengcai 孙政才here (in Chinese).