“People asked why I am not worried. You have to believe that as long as you have made no mistake, the government will not mess with you . . . if I have been good, why would the government want to target me?”
Guo Guangchang, chairman of Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun International — known as China’s Warren Buffett — penned these words last year in a Guide-to-getting-rich-in-China-without-ending-up-in-jail. He has just been released after four days “assisting” police with an investigation into — no one quite knows what. No one knows where he was, or why he was allowed to leave (or what it was all about anyway). It seems the government found a way to “mess” with him after all.
We all know that wealth in China comes with a health warning. But Mr Guo, the modest chairman and co-founder of one of China’s most prominent companies, thought he had the secret antidote: right living. He is known to believe in keeping close to politics — but far from politicians. He practises the Asian martial art of tai chi, even during business meetings. He is a devout believer in the virtues of eastern philosophy. But it seems being “good” just wasn’t good enough.