Pyramid Investigation Has Investors Protesting Near Heart of Beijing
By CHRIS BUCKLEY and AUSTIN RAMZYJULY 24, 2017
BEIJING — Many hundreds of Chinese investors who paid into what the police have called a pyramid investment scheme took to the streets of Beijing on Monday, not to denounce the business in which some had placed their life savings,
but to oppose the government investigation that threatened their earnings.
Mr. Zhang is such a fine man.”
But the government and the state news media have described the investment scheme as a dangerous swindle
that preys on the gullibility and generosity of people who like the idea of making money while helping others.
Many of the protesters waved Chinese flags, and some held banners appealing to the president, Xi Jinping, to overturn the crackdown on their investment scheme, called Shanxinhui,
and the recent arrest of its founder, Zhang Tianming.
I’ve helped 17 members of the group with the money I earned from this program.”
The protesters in Beijing carried banners that said Shanxinhui had been “persecuted”
and they called on President Xi, and his government to investigate their complaints.
