Two years ago, as she walked through a hospital hallway in handcuffs and shackles to get tested for Covid, Sun Junli felt ashamed and defeated. At 45, she had come a long way. The poor village girl in northwestern China had become a successful businesswoman.Then she was crushed.In 2018, state-owned banks abruptly stopped lending to her business, a chain of cafe restaurants, and the pandemic destroyed her cash flow. By May 2021, Ms. Sun had lost her restaurants, and she was serving 16 days in detention for owing her employees about $28,000 in wages.Weeks after her release, a court would seize her two-bedroom apartment in Xianyang in Shaanxi Province and her Toyota Camry because she was insolve …
