05-23-2018, 10:27 PM
*** 24-May-18 World View -- Australia-China relations in crisis after revelation of Chinese bribery scandal
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Australia-China relations in crisis after revelation of Chinese bribery scandal
****
![[Image: g180225b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180225b.jpg)
China's foreign minister Wang Yi and Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop, on 7-Feb-2017
China is expressing renewed fury at Australian politicians after
an explosive speech delivered to Parliament on Tuesday evening
accused a prominent wealthy Australian politician of Chinese
descent of an explosive bribery participant.
The politician, Dr. Chau Chak-wing, is accused of being linked to the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and of being a previously unnamed
co-conspirator in a 2013 case where United Nations General Assembly
president John Ashe was bribed with $200,000, along with tens of
thousands of dollars in custom suits and clothes, to obtain UN backing
for a number of multi-billion dollar Chinese infrastructure projects
in including Antigua and Barbuda, and other countries. Before
becoming president of the General Assembly, Ashe was the ambassador to
the UN for Antigua and Barbuda.
Ashe died before he could be convicted, but two co-conspirators
were convicted by the US Dept. of Justice in New York in 2016:
<QUOTE>"Shiwei Yan, a/k/a “Sheri Yan,” the co-founder and
former chief executive officer of the Global Sustainability
Foundation, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court today to 20
months in prison for paying more than $800,000 in bribes to John
W. Ashe (“Ashe”), the late former Permanent Representative of
Antigua and Barbuda (“Antigua”) to the United Nations (“UN”) and
68th President of the UN General Assembly. Yan pled guilty in
January 2016, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge
Vernon S. Broderick.
U.S. Attorney Bharara stated: “As she admitted in court at her
guilty plea, Shiwei Yan bribed the President of the UN General
Assembly with hundreds of thousands of dollars to further private
business interests. For her role in corrupting the United
Nations, Yan will serve time in a federal prison.”"<END QUOTE>
Another co-conspirator, Heidi Hong Piao, a/k/a “Heidi Park”, was
convicted at the same time. The complaint also named a third
co-conspirator, a "Chinese real estate developer" only identified as
"CC-3":
<QUOTE>"YAN and Piao also arranged for ASHE to be paid
$200,000 in exchange for attending a private conference in China
in Ashe’s official capacity, hosted by a Chinese real estate
developer identified as “CC-3” in the Complaint.
During the scheme, YAN and Piao also arranged for Ashe to receive
tens of thousands of dollars in custom suits and clothes.
In imposing sentence, Judge Broderick said, “To those bent on
perverting decision-making” through bribery, “this simply will not
be tolerated...there are consequences to these
actions.”"<END QUOTE>
The mysterious CC-3 was not identified by name, but was known to the
FBI. Recently, politicians in Australia's government attended a
confidential briefing by the FBI, and during the course of that
briefing, CC-3 was identified as wealthy Australian politician
Dr. Chau Chak-wing. South China Morning Post and Sydney Morning Herald (7-Oct-2015) and US Dept. of Justice (29-Jul-2016) and Business Insider
****
**** Andrew Hastie's explosive speech identifying Chau Chak-wing
****
On Tuesday evening, a Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie gave a speech
identifying Chau, thus breaking the confidential agreement, taking
advantage of Australia's Constitution that allows a parliamentarian to
say anything in parliament and not be prosecuted.
<QUOTE>"Today I raise a matter before the House that is of
great importance to the Australian people. It is a matter that
poses a threat to our democratic tradition, particularly the
freedom of the press, and our national sovereignty. I refer to the
threat of foreign interference in our political institutions. ...
We live in a rapidly changing world. We are watching the rise of
authoritarian states. Those states are conducting foreign
interference operations across Western democracies. In Australia
it is clear that the Chinese Communist Party is working to
covertly interfere with our media and universities and also to
influence our political processes and public debates. ...
The central pillar of the government's counter foreign
interference strategy is sunlight. That's why we're seeking to
introduce a new Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The
principle is simple. If a person or entity engages with the
Australian political landscape on behalf of a foreign state or
principal, they must register accordingly. This will give the
Australian public and decision-makers proper visibility when
foreign states or individuals may be seeking to influence
Australian's political processes and public debates. ...
For reasons that are best undisclosed, the United States
government did not seek to charge CC-3 for his involvement in the
bribery of John Ashe. The bribery does, however, raise the
question: what were the objectives of CC-3 in securing Ashe's
attendance at the conference?"<END QUOTE>
Hastie explained that CC-3 had a leadership role in China's United
Front. In previous articles, I've described China's "United Front
Work Department" something that China's president Xi Jingping has said
was China's "Magic Weapon."
Officially, the United Front focuses on building support for the
Communist Party in China, but it's become a coercive propaganda tool
targeting Chinese globally, especially in Australia, New Zealand, the
U.S., and Canada, but in other countries as well. The agency
particularly surveils and targets Chinese students and Chinese
students abroad and in foreign universities to adopt language that
favors pro-Beijing policies, such as delegitimizing Taiwan, and
Western ideals and values, such as liberal democracy, Christianity, or
Falun Gong.
Andrew Hastie described CC-3's involvement in the United Front in
Tuesday evening's speech, using CC-3's Mandarin name Zhou Zerong:
<QUOTE>"The United Front is a platform of the Chinese
Communist Party that is tasked with influence operations for the
People's Republic of China. It aims to influence the choices,
direction and loyalties of its targets, with a particular focus
overseas on foreign political and business elites. The primary
objective of the United Front is to shape thinking and attitudes
in a way that is favorable to China. Mao Zedong, for good reasons,
described the United Front as one of the three magic weapons of
the Chinese Communist Party. Zhou, or CC-3, was no stranger to the
United Front. He had assumed leadership of an organization
intimately involved with it. In the final paragraph of the cable,
Goldberg wrote that the Guangdong Overseas Chinese Businessmen's
Association was essentially a creature of the Chinese Communist
Party's United Front program."<END QUOTE>
Hastie concluded his speech by naming Chau specifically:
<QUOTE>"As chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Intelligence and Security I led a delegation to the United States
last month to discuss our espionage and foreign interference
legislation with US counterparts. During discussions with United
States authorities I confirmed the long-suspected identity of
CC-3. It is now my duty to inform the House and the Australian
people that CC-3 is Dr Chau Chak Wing, the same man who
co-conspired to bribe the president of the United Nations General
Assembly, John Ashe, the same man with extensive contacts in the
Chinese Communist Party, including the United Front. I share it
with the House because I believe it to be in the national
interest. My duty first and foremost is to the Australian people
and to the preservation of the ideals and democratic traditions of
our Commonwealth. That tradition includes a free press. I thank
the House."<END QUOTE>
Australian Broadcasting and Australian Parliament and Daily Mail (London)
****
**** China blames Australia and threatens retaliation
****
Andrew Hastie's explosive revelations were not previously revealed
to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has recently been on a
charm offensive to improve relations with China.
Relations between China and Australia have been increasingly tense for
a number of reasons. One is that China's illegal militarization of the South China Sea
is seen as a
military and commercial threat to Australia. Furthermore, as we reported in February,
a new book
extensively documents China's infiltration into Australia's
organizations. The new charges that prominent Australian politician
Chau Chak-wing participated in a Chinese Communist Party bribery
operation, and had a leadership position in the powerful United Front
espionage organization only add to the concerns that many Australians
have about the infiltration of China into Australia.
The increasing hostility of Australian politicians to China has
brought some sharp responses from China itself. In Wednesday's
press conference by China's foreign ministry, the spokesman said:
<QUOTE>"The China-Australia relations have recently
encountered difficulties, which leads to problems in our
cooperation in some areas, and that is something China does not
wish to see. ... [The] Australian side must first of all address
its problem of perception, put China's development in a positive
perspective and truly take China's development as a positive
factor, instead of looking China through tinted glasses. Once the
problem of perception addressed, the necessary conditions for the
true improvement and sound and steady development of
China-Australia relations will be created."<END QUOTE>
China's state media is taking the editorial position that
Australia should be punished for its "arrogant" attitude:
<QUOTE>"Sino-Australia relations have remained on a steady
downward slope since last year due to distorted reporting on
behalf of Australian media and remarks made by Australian
politicians on China’s alleged interference and infiltration in
Australian internal affairs.
Such remarks have not only created obstacles in the development of
bilateral relations between the two countries, but also have had a
negative impact on Chinese living in Australia. Australian
officials recently made unfriendly remarks toward China, actively
hurling accusations. ...
It is high time China demonstrated how it sticks to its principles
in regard to its relations with Australia, so as to make Australia
pay for its arrogant attitude toward China over the past two
years. ...
China has been very friendly toward Australia, but their arrogant
attitudes in return over the past two years have become a virtual
example of what it means to "bite the hand that feeds."
Australia's image among Chinese people has grown increasingly
negative due to its warped accusations hurled at China. China does
not need to spend time and effort seeking out revenge against
Australia.
The cooling of bilateral relations between the two may last for a
while, perhaps a few years or even longer. That would be a good
lesson for Australia to learn, while also setting a precedent for
other nations to follow in that there are no benefits for any
country that chooses to take provocative measures against
China."<END QUOTE>
It seems that relations between Australia and China will not improve
much in the months to come, and in fact will probably deteriorate
further. Business Insider and China Foreign Ministry and Global Times (China) and New Daily (Australia)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Australia, China,
Chau Chak-wing, CC-3, Zhou Zerong,
John Ashe, Antigua and Barbuda, UN General Assembly,
Andrew Hastie, Malcolm Turnbull,
China, Xi Jinping, Magic Weapons, United Front Work Department
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Australia-China relations in crisis after revelation of Chinese bribery scandal
- Andrew Hastie's explosive speech identifying Chau Chak-wing
- China blames Australia and threatens retaliation
****
**** Australia-China relations in crisis after revelation of Chinese bribery scandal
****
China's foreign minister Wang Yi and Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop, on 7-Feb-2017
China is expressing renewed fury at Australian politicians after
an explosive speech delivered to Parliament on Tuesday evening
accused a prominent wealthy Australian politician of Chinese
descent of an explosive bribery participant.
The politician, Dr. Chau Chak-wing, is accused of being linked to the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and of being a previously unnamed
co-conspirator in a 2013 case where United Nations General Assembly
president John Ashe was bribed with $200,000, along with tens of
thousands of dollars in custom suits and clothes, to obtain UN backing
for a number of multi-billion dollar Chinese infrastructure projects
in including Antigua and Barbuda, and other countries. Before
becoming president of the General Assembly, Ashe was the ambassador to
the UN for Antigua and Barbuda.
Ashe died before he could be convicted, but two co-conspirators
were convicted by the US Dept. of Justice in New York in 2016:
<QUOTE>"Shiwei Yan, a/k/a “Sheri Yan,” the co-founder and
former chief executive officer of the Global Sustainability
Foundation, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court today to 20
months in prison for paying more than $800,000 in bribes to John
W. Ashe (“Ashe”), the late former Permanent Representative of
Antigua and Barbuda (“Antigua”) to the United Nations (“UN”) and
68th President of the UN General Assembly. Yan pled guilty in
January 2016, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge
Vernon S. Broderick.
U.S. Attorney Bharara stated: “As she admitted in court at her
guilty plea, Shiwei Yan bribed the President of the UN General
Assembly with hundreds of thousands of dollars to further private
business interests. For her role in corrupting the United
Nations, Yan will serve time in a federal prison.”"<END QUOTE>
Another co-conspirator, Heidi Hong Piao, a/k/a “Heidi Park”, was
convicted at the same time. The complaint also named a third
co-conspirator, a "Chinese real estate developer" only identified as
"CC-3":
<QUOTE>"YAN and Piao also arranged for ASHE to be paid
$200,000 in exchange for attending a private conference in China
in Ashe’s official capacity, hosted by a Chinese real estate
developer identified as “CC-3” in the Complaint.
During the scheme, YAN and Piao also arranged for Ashe to receive
tens of thousands of dollars in custom suits and clothes.
In imposing sentence, Judge Broderick said, “To those bent on
perverting decision-making” through bribery, “this simply will not
be tolerated...there are consequences to these
actions.”"<END QUOTE>
The mysterious CC-3 was not identified by name, but was known to the
FBI. Recently, politicians in Australia's government attended a
confidential briefing by the FBI, and during the course of that
briefing, CC-3 was identified as wealthy Australian politician
Dr. Chau Chak-wing. South China Morning Post and Sydney Morning Herald (7-Oct-2015) and US Dept. of Justice (29-Jul-2016) and Business Insider
****
**** Andrew Hastie's explosive speech identifying Chau Chak-wing
****
On Tuesday evening, a Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie gave a speech
identifying Chau, thus breaking the confidential agreement, taking
advantage of Australia's Constitution that allows a parliamentarian to
say anything in parliament and not be prosecuted.
<QUOTE>"Today I raise a matter before the House that is of
great importance to the Australian people. It is a matter that
poses a threat to our democratic tradition, particularly the
freedom of the press, and our national sovereignty. I refer to the
threat of foreign interference in our political institutions. ...
We live in a rapidly changing world. We are watching the rise of
authoritarian states. Those states are conducting foreign
interference operations across Western democracies. In Australia
it is clear that the Chinese Communist Party is working to
covertly interfere with our media and universities and also to
influence our political processes and public debates. ...
The central pillar of the government's counter foreign
interference strategy is sunlight. That's why we're seeking to
introduce a new Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The
principle is simple. If a person or entity engages with the
Australian political landscape on behalf of a foreign state or
principal, they must register accordingly. This will give the
Australian public and decision-makers proper visibility when
foreign states or individuals may be seeking to influence
Australian's political processes and public debates. ...
For reasons that are best undisclosed, the United States
government did not seek to charge CC-3 for his involvement in the
bribery of John Ashe. The bribery does, however, raise the
question: what were the objectives of CC-3 in securing Ashe's
attendance at the conference?"<END QUOTE>
Hastie explained that CC-3 had a leadership role in China's United
Front. In previous articles, I've described China's "United Front
Work Department" something that China's president Xi Jingping has said
was China's "Magic Weapon."
Officially, the United Front focuses on building support for the
Communist Party in China, but it's become a coercive propaganda tool
targeting Chinese globally, especially in Australia, New Zealand, the
U.S., and Canada, but in other countries as well. The agency
particularly surveils and targets Chinese students and Chinese
students abroad and in foreign universities to adopt language that
favors pro-Beijing policies, such as delegitimizing Taiwan, and
Western ideals and values, such as liberal democracy, Christianity, or
Falun Gong.
Andrew Hastie described CC-3's involvement in the United Front in
Tuesday evening's speech, using CC-3's Mandarin name Zhou Zerong:
<QUOTE>"The United Front is a platform of the Chinese
Communist Party that is tasked with influence operations for the
People's Republic of China. It aims to influence the choices,
direction and loyalties of its targets, with a particular focus
overseas on foreign political and business elites. The primary
objective of the United Front is to shape thinking and attitudes
in a way that is favorable to China. Mao Zedong, for good reasons,
described the United Front as one of the three magic weapons of
the Chinese Communist Party. Zhou, or CC-3, was no stranger to the
United Front. He had assumed leadership of an organization
intimately involved with it. In the final paragraph of the cable,
Goldberg wrote that the Guangdong Overseas Chinese Businessmen's
Association was essentially a creature of the Chinese Communist
Party's United Front program."<END QUOTE>
Hastie concluded his speech by naming Chau specifically:
<QUOTE>"As chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Intelligence and Security I led a delegation to the United States
last month to discuss our espionage and foreign interference
legislation with US counterparts. During discussions with United
States authorities I confirmed the long-suspected identity of
CC-3. It is now my duty to inform the House and the Australian
people that CC-3 is Dr Chau Chak Wing, the same man who
co-conspired to bribe the president of the United Nations General
Assembly, John Ashe, the same man with extensive contacts in the
Chinese Communist Party, including the United Front. I share it
with the House because I believe it to be in the national
interest. My duty first and foremost is to the Australian people
and to the preservation of the ideals and democratic traditions of
our Commonwealth. That tradition includes a free press. I thank
the House."<END QUOTE>
Australian Broadcasting and Australian Parliament and Daily Mail (London)
****
**** China blames Australia and threatens retaliation
****
Andrew Hastie's explosive revelations were not previously revealed
to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has recently been on a
charm offensive to improve relations with China.
Relations between China and Australia have been increasingly tense for
a number of reasons. One is that China's illegal militarization of the South China Sea
is seen as a
military and commercial threat to Australia. Furthermore, as we reported in February,
a new book
extensively documents China's infiltration into Australia's
organizations. The new charges that prominent Australian politician
Chau Chak-wing participated in a Chinese Communist Party bribery
operation, and had a leadership position in the powerful United Front
espionage organization only add to the concerns that many Australians
have about the infiltration of China into Australia.
The increasing hostility of Australian politicians to China has
brought some sharp responses from China itself. In Wednesday's
press conference by China's foreign ministry, the spokesman said:
<QUOTE>"The China-Australia relations have recently
encountered difficulties, which leads to problems in our
cooperation in some areas, and that is something China does not
wish to see. ... [The] Australian side must first of all address
its problem of perception, put China's development in a positive
perspective and truly take China's development as a positive
factor, instead of looking China through tinted glasses. Once the
problem of perception addressed, the necessary conditions for the
true improvement and sound and steady development of
China-Australia relations will be created."<END QUOTE>
China's state media is taking the editorial position that
Australia should be punished for its "arrogant" attitude:
<QUOTE>"Sino-Australia relations have remained on a steady
downward slope since last year due to distorted reporting on
behalf of Australian media and remarks made by Australian
politicians on China’s alleged interference and infiltration in
Australian internal affairs.
Such remarks have not only created obstacles in the development of
bilateral relations between the two countries, but also have had a
negative impact on Chinese living in Australia. Australian
officials recently made unfriendly remarks toward China, actively
hurling accusations. ...
It is high time China demonstrated how it sticks to its principles
in regard to its relations with Australia, so as to make Australia
pay for its arrogant attitude toward China over the past two
years. ...
China has been very friendly toward Australia, but their arrogant
attitudes in return over the past two years have become a virtual
example of what it means to "bite the hand that feeds."
Australia's image among Chinese people has grown increasingly
negative due to its warped accusations hurled at China. China does
not need to spend time and effort seeking out revenge against
Australia.
The cooling of bilateral relations between the two may last for a
while, perhaps a few years or even longer. That would be a good
lesson for Australia to learn, while also setting a precedent for
other nations to follow in that there are no benefits for any
country that chooses to take provocative measures against
China."<END QUOTE>
It seems that relations between Australia and China will not improve
much in the months to come, and in fact will probably deteriorate
further. Business Insider and China Foreign Ministry and Global Times (China) and New Daily (Australia)
Related Articles
- New book documents extensive Chinese infiltration into Australia's organizations (26-Feb-2018)
- Concerns grow over China's covert infiltration into New Zealand's government (16-Feb-2018)
- China-Australia relations plummet over China's illegal militarization of South China Sea (16-Dec-2017)
- Australian MP Clive Palmer shocks country with anti-China rant (21-Aug-2014)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Australia, China,
Chau Chak-wing, CC-3, Zhou Zerong,
John Ashe, Antigua and Barbuda, UN General Assembly,
Andrew Hastie, Malcolm Turnbull,
China, Xi Jinping, Magic Weapons, United Front Work Department
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
