Communist Party professor supports tycoon’s right to criticise Beijing’s policies

A former property tycoon’s criticism of President Xi Jinping’s address to state media last week underscores the lack of internal channels for Communist Party members to discuss policy, a professor at the party’s top training institute said in an article ­yesterday.­

But the article penned by Central Party School professor Cai Xia vanished from cyberspace soon after it was posted.

Former Hua Yuan Property boss Ren Zhiqiang has been under attack and his popular Sina Weibo account frozen since he spoke out about Xi’s visit to official media on Friday.

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During the tour, Xi demanded the outlets, from top party mouthpieces to commercial tabloid and social media, align with the leadership of the party and ensure they were headed in the “right” editorial direction, raising concerns about stricter control over the media.

Ren, a party member with 37 million followers on his microblog, wrote that state media were funded by taxpayers, not party membership fees, and should serve the public, not the party.

An editorial on a news site affiliated with the Beijing municipal party committee responded by accusing Ren of spreading “anti-Communist Party” thought.

Cai lashed out at Ren’s critics yesterday in an article titled “The Constitution and Regulations Ensure the Rights of Party Members like Ren Zhiqiang”.