An influential property tycoon with close ties to China’s political elite is facing prosecution for corruption after he made comments critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ren Zhiqiang, nicknamed “Ren the big cannon” for his outspoken personality, on Wednesday appeared in a Beijing court on charges of corruption, bribery, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of authority as an agent of a state-owned enterprise.

Ren, 69, was the chairman and party chief of the Huayuan Group until 2011, and was close to the Chinese leadership in his capacity as the son of a top government official.

He was expelled from the Communist Party after criticizing Xi in early March in an online article that took aim at a speech delivered by the Chinese leader touting the nation’s success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This kind of face-saving promotion can only fool those who are willing to be fooled; they cannot deceive those who only believe in the truth,” Ren wrote.

No matter how successful the anti-pandemic efforts were, the work “cannot save the lives lost, the days of happiness gone, and the families forever broken,” he added.

“When the whole nation is cheering the speech of our great leader, I see the complete opposite… The person standing there is not an emperor showing off his new clothes, it is a clown who took off his clothes but insists he is an emperor.”

Authorities announced on April 14 that Ren was under investigation, and threw him out of the party on July 23 for “offending the ‘Four Cardinal Principles,’ opposing party leadership on matters of principle” and a litany of other offenses.

Wang Ying, an entrepreneur, condemned the treatment of his friend Ren as “blatant political persecution.”

Ren has a long history of making bold remarks against the Communist Party, including in 2016, when he wrote on Weibo wondering whether the party under Xi’s rule was “no longer representing the interests of the people.”

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