Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

Tang Renjian, China's Minister of Agriculture from 2020 to 2024, was given a death sentence with a 2-year reprieve for taking bribes totaling RMB 284 million, according to China's central news organization . Like most things in China, this is probably not what it appears to be.  Former Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian in court. The Changchun Intermediate People's Court of Jilin Province found former Party Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) Tang Renjian guilty of taking bribes during his tenure at various posts from 2007 to 2024. Tang was accused of using his power and status to assist units and individuals in business operations, project contracts, and job adjustments. Earlier this year, Radio Free Asia reported that Tang was accused of accepting gifts and property for help in business deals, favoring relatives, making "blind decisions" in poverty alleviation programs, and interfering in judicial decisions. It sounds like Tang acte...

China's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is under investigation  for "suspected serious violations of law and discipline" and his name and photo have been eliminated from the Ministry's "leaders" web page. The disciplinary review and investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of Minister Tang Renjian was announced in a special Friday night meeting on May 18. Former Minister Tang's alleged crimes were not revealed. It is unusual for a government minister to be investigated, and the Minister had given a speech at an employee recruiting event in Shaanxi Province just 3 days before he was hauled up for investigation. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs doesn't have a lot of opportunities for corruption, and 61-year-old former Tang was known as a technocrat with a doctorate in economics. Tang is a native of Chongqing in southwest China, was a policy expert with the central rural policy leading group in Beijing, an...