This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Officials in China are attempting to capture more than 3 billion yuan ( US$ 435 million ) worth of assets belonging to a previous high-ranking national from Heilongjiang who has fled to the United States, claiming to be a oppressed critique of the state.
According to the Mudanjiang Intermediate People’s Court, past Jixi vice president Li Chuanliang stands accused of holding improper assets including real estate, companies and engineering technology for 3.1 billion renminbi, according to details it published in the Oct. 11 edition of the , People’s Court Daily, a specialized legal newspaper.
Li, 61, who has served as vice president of both Jixi and Hegang places, stands accused of embezzling people property, accepting gifts and appropriating people funds by awarding contracts to companies he quietly owned, the state-run , China Daily , magazine reported.
Li fled China in 2018, two centuries before China issued an international “red see” arrest warrant for him via Interpol.
But unlike many former officers who were targeted by the anti-corruption promotion of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Li has fought again, argued, had the red see canceled, and asserts that he is being persecuted because he witnessed common official corruption while in office.
The authorities are now attempting to seize what they claim are his “illegal gains,” which are typically only done after a person has been found guilty of fraud by a judge.
” Since the investigation began in 2020, authorities have frozen over 1.4 billion yuan ( US$ 197 million ) of his funds and seized 1, 021 properties, 27 parcels of land, eight forest plots, 38 vehicles and 10 sets of mechanical equipment”, the , China Daily , reported.
If Li does n’t appear in court for trial within the next six months, the asset confiscation will continue.
Allow the bullets fly, you say.
However, Li claimed that he has n’t received any legal documents regarding the alleged case against him.
” They have n’t actually taken any action against me”, he said in an interview on Tuesday.
” The stage of weaving this thread about these property and these rentals is firstly punishment, secondly, assault, thirdly, to terrify and thirdly, to give out a warning”, Li said. ” Let the bullets fly because I’m currently a free agent and have the opportunity to clarify and explain.”
” I think the entire system is rotten to the core, and that these officials are lawless”, he said. ” I certainly want more politics, more flexibility, more transparency, more flexibility, and more fairness in China”.
Li has n’t even been able to retain a lawyer in China despite the investigation starting in 2020.
Before I may use a lawyer, Li said,” They would need to fully prosecute me and inform me.” ” But they never have”.
According to a lawyer representing one of Li’s friends who requested anonymity because they were afraid of violence, the authorities have instead prosecuted dozens of his friends and former associates since Li fled the country.
The attorney claimed that the authorities are acting inadvertently and that many of the accused had done nothing wrong.
A family attorney who requested anonymity told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview,” You say this person has committed a crime, so you need to convict him first. According to the Criminal Procedure Law,” Only then can you begin the process for confiscating his assets.”
” Right now, they’re trying to confiscate his assets before the trial has even been held, which is totally illegal”, the lawyer said, adding that they are worried the authorities could try him in absentia.
No cases against Li were found during online searches by RFA Mandarin, which approved his formal arrest in absentia in September 2020.  ,
Guilty by association
Li claimed that many of the properties listed were legitimately owned and run by him and his relatives, despite the scale of the allegations, which has sparked a furore on Chinese social media platforms.
” A lot of those funds and assets were run in complete compliance with the law and regulations by either myself, my friends, or my relatives,” Li claimed for Radio Free Asia. However, he claimed that he had never heard of many of the assets that the Mudanjiang court had listed.
” I do n’t know anything about a lot of them, but they may belong to my partners or their affiliated companies”, he said. ” All of the assets I know about are unproblematic”.
The lawyer claimed that the authorities had listed each apartment separately, giving the impression of a much longer list, but that some of the properties were included in a Li-developed, unsold, complex.
He claimed that the government appears to be treating anyone who is connected to Li as fair game, as if they were convicted by association.
” How come everyone else’s money is all included in there”? he said.  ,
Xia Ming, politics professor at New York’s City University, said Xi Jinping ‘s , anti-corruption drive , typically , targets Xi’s political rivals, rather than seeking to root out , rampant graft , throughout the system.
Xi Jinping said,” I do n’t believe the anti-corruption card is working because he wants to improve his personal reputation and strengthen his legitimacy,” adding that public resentment is rife with the current economic downturn.
” This decline has done damage to everyone, and people are disgusted”, he said. They attribute the incompetence and, conversely, hypocrisy to the current failure of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.
Criticizing the Chinese government
After arriving in the United States, Li’s American lawyer Michelle Estlund claimed in a statement from 2022 that she was being targeted for speaking out against the Chinese government.
Li fled to the United States in 2020 with the assistance of the U. S. based Chinese Democratic Party, Estlund’s law firm said in a news release at the time.  ,
” Upon his arrival to the United States, Mr. Li spoke out against the Chinese government and its corruption”, the statement said. ” He gave multiple interviews, criticizing both the CCP and the Chinese government’s corruption and its attempts to cover up certain aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak”.
The authorities filed the first charges against Li” a few weeks” after his first media interview, it said.
In 2020, Li , gave an interview , ( in Chinese ) to RFA Cantonese, in which he spoke about rampant official corruption during his tenure, with officials snapping up , confiscated private-sector assets , like coal mines after targeting the owners with allegations of corruption or other wrong-doing.
” The local leaders have the final say in who gets investigated, they are selectively anti-corruption”, he said. Take a look at some of these departments, look at their families ‘ belongings, check out what they wear, drive, where they live, and what kind of food they consume.
Li is currently challenging the Chinese government’s decision to prosecute him in the United States and release all of his evidence.
” I just want everything to be made public, for an open trial, and for the chance to defend myself in public”, he said.