Social media account of Chinese billionaire's son removed for criticising Beijing's COVID-19 policies

Wang’s Weibo account was “not viewable” on Wednesday, removed due to a “violation of related laws and regulations”, according to a notice published on the platform, reports South China Morning Post.

The complete removal of his account follows censorship of Wang last week, when he was prohibited from publishing any new Weibo posts, the newspaper reported.

Weibo’s moves came after Wang questioned the effectiveness of the traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen, which has been distributed to millions of people in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other Chinese cities during the country’s battle against the Omicron Covid-19 variant, the newspaper reported.

Wang Jianlin is one of the richest persons in China.

YouTuber and current affairs commentator Yue Ge said Wang's privileged background likely led him to believe he could challenge the official CCP narrative on social media, something that has resulted in expulsion from the party and even prison sentences for outspoken members of the elite under CCP leader Xi Jinping.

"He mainly studied in the UK, and he was admitted to some prestigious schools, and went to University College London, which cultivates subversive thinking," Yue Ge told Radio Free Asia. "Western education has no qualms about cultivating critical minds."

"The second generation of super-rich has a lot of wealth, but also operates outside of the [political] system, with not much in the way of official curbs," Yue Ge said.

Current affairs commentator Wei Xin told RFA Wang was likely voicing simmering public discontent over lockdowns in Shanghai.