Australia's Chinese Mole Chau Chak Wing

In Australia, Fears of Chinese Meddling Rise on U.N. Bribery Case Revelation

By Emily Baumgaertner and Jacqueline Williams

Chau Chak Wing, center right, in 2015 at the opening of a University of Technology Sydney building that bears his name. Chau is accused of bribing a United Nations diplomat.

A billionaire businessman, previously accused of meddling in Australia’s politics on behalf of China, conspired to bribe a prominent United Nations diplomat, an Australian politician said on Tuesday, raising new concerns about China’s efforts to interfere in democracies worldwide.
Andrew Hastie, chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, identified the businessman, Chau Chak Wing, as the person in a 2015 bribery case previously called only Co-conspirator No. 3.
“CC-3 is Dr. Chau Chak Wing,” Mr. Hastie said in a speech in the Australian Parliament’s Federation Chamber, adding, “The same man who co-conspired to bribe the U.N. president of the General Assembly, John Ashe.”
He continued, “The same man with extensive contacts in the Chinese Communist Party, including the United Front.”
In a criminal complaint filed in 2015, American prosecutors said several conspirators had paid John W. Ashe, an Antiguan diplomat and former president of the United Nations General Assembly, more than $1 million in luxury goods and cash from sources in China to assist with business deals.
Several people accused in the complaint were named, and the Australian news media had suggested in the past that Co-conspirator No. 3 was Chau. 

But his identity as the co-conspirator was confirmed only Tuesday.
Chau, a well-connected political donor in Australia, has also sued news organizations that he says have wrongly linked him to the bribery case. 

Mr. Hastie said he sought to issue a broader warning about China’s interference in Australian politics and the press.
“In Australia, it is clear that the Chinese Communist Party is working to covertly interfere with our media, our universities and also influence our political processes and public debates,” Mr. Hastie said.
Mr. Hastie’s speech is likely to fuel a global debate about China’s efforts to shape opinions and policy in the world’s democracies and democratic institutions.
Several Australian politicians have accused China of meddling in its politics. 

Australia’s intelligence chief identified Chau, an Australian citizen, in June as an agent of the Chinese government.
Duncan Lewis, the director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, warned politicians against accepting contributions from Chau and another man of Chinese descent because of their ties to China’s government.
Chau, a billionaire property developer who immigrated to Australia decades ago, has said his campaign contributions are benign and unrelated to the Chinese government. 

He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Chau is chairman of the Kingold Group, a business conglomerate based in Guangzhou, China, that has expanded to Australia. 

His name graces the modernist Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology Sydney, to which he donated $15 million. 

Chau also owns New Express Daily, an Australian newspaper.
Chau filed a defamation suit last year aimed at two Australian news media companies: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster, and Fairfax Media, a newspaper publisher. 

He has sought damages from them for a news report that the suit says damaged his personal and professional reputation.
In his speech, Mr. Hastie argued that Chau was trying to silence the press.
“My concern is that defamation cases can have a chilling effect on our free press,” Mr. Hastie said. “Any attempt to silence our media from telling the truth — provided it is the truth — through a defamation claim cannot stand.”
In the speech, Mr. Hastie said Australians “deserve the truth.”
Since the accusations of political meddling, Australia has taken steps to curb foreign interference. 

A series of bills introduced in December would strengthen the country’s espionage laws, outlaw foreign political donations and criminalize efforts to interfere in Australian democracy.
Senator Sam Dastyari, a member of the opposition Labor Party, resigned in December amid accusations that he pushed China’s foreign policy interests after taking money from Chinese-born political donors.
He had been widely criticized by opponents as a symbol of China’s efforts to compromise Australia’s democracy.
But the accusations leveled against  Chau on Tuesday extend the reach of concern, suggesting that China’s efforts to meddle span national borders.
The 2015 bribery case, U.S. v. John W. Ashe et al, was considered the worst financial scandal at the United Nations in decades. 

That complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York.
The court did not respond to a request for comment.
The corruption case accused Ashe, the Antiguan diplomat, of accepting Rolex watches, bespoke suits and a private basketball court in exchange for official actions that benefited Chinese interests.
In particular, Ashe accepted $200,000 in exchange for his attendance at the Global Summit of Small and Medium Enterprise Leaders in November 2013 in Guangzhou. 

The meeting was organized by Chau’s Kingold Group at the lavish Imperial Springs resort, according to the complaint.
Ashe died in an accident in June 2016 while awaiting trial. 

Several other defendants in the case were convicted and either got prison time or were awaiting sentencing. 

Co-conspirator No. 3 was never indicted, but it is not known why.

Chinese Fifth Column

Chinese businessman subject of ASIO warning donated $200,000 to WA Liberals
By Rebecca Trigger

Chau Chak Wing's $200,000 donation was the largest one-off donation to the WA Liberal Party in 2015-16.

A $200,000 donation to the WA Liberal Party from a billionaire property developer with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party has raised questions, WA Deputy Premier Roger Cook says.
Chau Chak Wing's company Kingold Group donated the sum to the WA branch of the Liberal Party in 2015/16.
Chau, who is an Australian citizen, also made donations to the Labor Party federally.
Kingold is headquartered in Guangzhou, in southern China, and develops projects including international trade centres, commercial buildings, hotels, office and residential buildings.
A joint investigation by the ABC and Fairfax revealed earlier this week, that Chau's links to the Chinese Government were referenced in a briefing by ASIO chief Duncan Lewis in 2015.
In secret meetings with senior federal administrative officials in the major parties, Mr Lewis warned of the risks associated with accepting foreign-linked donations.

Chinese fifth column: An ASIO investigation sparks fears the Chinese Communist Party is influencing the Australian political system as questions are raised over foreign political donations.

The agency also reportedly briefed senior federal politicians including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, his predecessor Tony Abbott, and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
Mr Cook on Saturday said it was important for all political parties to stick to the absolute spirit and letter of electoral laws.
"A $200,000 donation to a state branch of a political party is a hefty sum, and so you would have to ask questions in relation to the nature of that donation," he said.
"I hope what political parties are making sure is that while they acknowledge and accept political donations are a reality of our modern democratic system, and one that we rely on, that that in no way impacts upon the policies of the parties and it certainly does not impact in any way in terms of good government decisions when those parties are in Government."
WA Liberal Party director Andrew Cox said in a statement the party always conducted its fundraising in an ethical manner and fully adhered to state and federal electoral laws.
He said the Labor Party should tell the WA public how much the union movement donated to it, and what "political favours" were being provided in return.
The ABC was unable to reach Chau Chak Wing for comment.

However he told The Australian newspaper on Friday that the media reports had caused him great distress.

Chau Chak Wing is a member of a provincial-level People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and also owns a newspaper in China. 

The press in China are closely monitored and influenced by the central government.
Chau also made donations to the federal Liberal Party of $560,000 in 2016, and $100,000 to the NSW branch.
He donated $200,000 to Labor federally.
Chau has made donations to non-political causes in Australia, most notably $20 million for the construction of a business school at the University of Technology, named the "Chau Chak Wing building".
According to Kingold's website, Chau hosted and attended events during Li Keqiang's recent visit to Australia.

Push for overseas donation reform
Notre Dame Politics and International Relations Associate Professor Martin Drum said foreign donations to political parties were banned by many Western countries but not on a state or federal level in Western Australia.
"When we don't know the structure that foreign entities operate under, their ownership structure, we don't understand the relationships they have with other overseas entities such as foreign governments, then there's extra cause for concern," he said.
Dr Drum said a recent federal parliamentary inquiry recommended foreign donations be banned.
He said under current rules entities could also make donations up to $13,200 to each political party in each state, and the federal party, without having to declare it publicly.

Watch the Four Corners report "Power and Influence" on ABC iview.

Der Anschluss Australiens 吞并澳大利亚进入中国

Australian Politics Is Open to Chinese Cash
Australia’s intelligence had identified two Chinese businessmen, Huang Xiangmo and Chau Chak Wing, who have donated millions across the political spectrum in recent years, as agents for the Chinese government.

By DAMIEN CAVE and JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

Huang Xiangmo, a prominent businessman of Chinese descent, in Sydney last year. Huang is one of two donors Australia’s intelligence chief had identified as agents for the Chinese government.

SYDNEY, Australia — As the United States investigates Russia’s efforts to sway last year’s presidential election, Australia is engaged in a heated debate over how vulnerable its own political system is to foreign influence — and whether China is already meddling in it.
The issue was thrust to the forefront this week by a report that Australia’s intelligence chief had identified two prominent businessmen of Chinese descent, who have donated millions across the political spectrum in recent years, as agents for the Chinese government.
One of the donors is said to have withdrawn a large contribution last year because of a political party’s position on the disputed South China Sea, suggesting a back-room effort to shift public discussion of a policy issue in Beijing’s favor.
The question of Chinese interference is a sensitive one for Australia, an American "ally" that has embraced Beijing as its largest trade partner and welcomed Chinese investors and immigrants in large numbers. 

The political establishment here has generally been reluctant to tackle the issue.
But the nation is now asking how a multicultural society should police a Communist power that has a record of mobilizing, and bullying, ethnic Chinese overseas to support its goals.

China’s attempts to translate its economic might into political influence have caused unease in many countries. 

But the challenge is acute in Australia.
Many Australians view good ties with China as critical to their future prosperity, and Australia is an especially enticing and easy target for Beijing because of its strategic value in the Pacific — and because foreign donations are both legal and difficult to track in its loose, opaque campaign finance system.
By contrast, such donations are largely banned in the United States, Canada and throughout most of Europe.

The Chau Chak Wing Building, on the University of Technology Sydney campus, is named after a Chinese billionaire property developer who gave $15 million to the school. Australia’s intelligence chief has identified Chau as a agent for the Chinese government. 

Australia's new master: Chau Chak Wing and John Howard share a toast.

“It’s not so much that China is more active but that Australia is more receptive and more vulnerable,” said John Fitzgerald, a professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, who studies civil society in China.
Concern about the influence of Chinese money erupted with new disclosures about the two businessmen, both billionaire property developers: Chau Chak Wing, an Australian citizen, and Huang Xiangmo, a resident who has applied for citizenship.
Duncan Lewis, the director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, warned leading political parties two years ago against accepting contributions from the men because of their ties to the Chinese government, according to a joint report by Fairfax Media newspapers and “Four Corners,” a current affairs television program.
But the Liberal Party and its governing coalition partners, as well as the opposition Labor Party, continued to take the money. 

The news organizations found that the men and their associates had made at least $5 million in political donations in Australia in recent years, including more than $820,000 since Mr. Lewis’s warning.
The most striking disclosure, though, revolves around a donation that did not occur. 

As a general election approached last year, Huang pledged to give an additional $300,000 to the Labor Party. 

But weeks before the vote, the report said, he rescinded the offer and made clear why: He was upset about a party official saying Australia should send naval patrols to challenge Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea.
The Pentagon has urged Australia to join it on such patrols, but the government has resisted.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was preparing legislation to ban foreign political donations. 

“Just as modern China was based on an assertion of national sovereignty, so China should always respect the sovereignty of other nations, including our own,” he said.
But the broader problem may be the role of big money in Australian politics. 

Campaign financing is largely unregulated, with no limits on fund-raising, donations or spending, and critics say that has resulted in a culture of corruption that Chinese donors have learned to exploit.
At the federal level, it takes seven to 19 months for the public to learn how much parties have raised and from whom, and donors are identified only if they have contributed more than 13,500 Australian dollars, or about $10,000. 

As a result, individuals, and corporations, can anonymously make multiple donations below that threshold. 

At the same time, Australian politicians are not required to explain what they do with the money.

Duncan Lewis, the director of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, warned leading political parties two years ago against accepting donations from two prominent businessmen because of their ties to the Chinese government.

“What we have is a thick shroud of secrecy regarding political donations at the federal level,” said Joo-Cheong Tham, an associate professor at Melbourne Law School. 

“I think that clearly gives rise to corruption and undue influence.”
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson hinted at Washington’s concern after meetings in Sydney on Monday. 

“We cannot allow China to use its economic power to buy its way out of other problems,” he said.
A report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation last year concluded that businesses and individuals “with Chinese connections” had donated more than 5.5 million Australian dollars to the main political parties from 2013 to 2015, “making them easily the largest source of foreign-linked donations.”
But defining what a “Chinese connection” is and when it should matter is contentious, because more than 4 percent of Australia’s population is of Chinese ancestry.

One of the donors flagged by Australian intelligence, Chau Chak Wing, immigrated decades ago. 

He has long maintained that his campaign contributions are benign and unrelated to the Chinese government. 

But his profile suggests close ties with the Chinese authorities, and his political contacts in Australia would enhance his stature in China.
His company, the Kingold Group, and its sprawling real estate empire are based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. 

He also has invested in a newspaper there, linking him to the state propaganda apparatus, and is a member of a provincial body that advises the Communist Party.
The other donor, Huang Xiangmo, moved to Australia six years ago and leads the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China, which promotes Beijing’s foreign policy positions, including its assertion that Taiwan is part of China and opposition to independence for Tibet. 

Though such views are common among Chinese, Huang’s fortune — the holdings of his Yuhu Group range from agriculture to malls — means his voice commands attention.

Andrew Robb, second from right, the trade minister at the time, signing a trade agreement with China in 2015. Mr. Robb was reported to have received a part-time consulting contract worth more than $650,000 a year from a Chinese billionaire. 

In an editorial published in a state-run newspaper in China last year, he said coverage about Chinese contributions distorting Australian politics was racially biased. 

He added that Chinese in Australia had long been expected to pay tribute to politicians with donations but stay quiet on policy.
“The Chinese realize that they need to make their voices heard in the political circle so as to seek more interests for the Chinese,” he told reporters recently.
In a statement on Tuesday, though, he denied linking his donations to foreign policy. 

“I expect nothing in return,” he said. 

“While some seek to reinforce negative stereotypes about Chinese involvement in Australia, I am committed to more positive pursuits.”
Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese consular official in Australia who defected in 2005, said the donations disclosed so far were “very small compared to the transactions completed under the table,” including free trips to China and other gifts to politicians that can be impossible to track.
The uproar has focused attention on a revolving door in which politicians sometimes go to work for Chinese companies after leaving office. 

The former trade minister, Andrew Robb, who negotiated a trade pact with China, have received a part-time consulting contract worth more than $650,000 a year from a Chinese billionaire.
China’s growing leverage over academia has also come under scrutiny as universities have become increasingly dependent on tuition paid by Chinese students and, in some cases, donations from Chinese benefactors. 

Beijing is using this leverage to stifle critical views.
Chau Chak Wing, for example, gave $15 million to the University of Technology Sydney for a building that bears his name, and Huang’s money helped establish the Australia-China Relations Institute at the university, overseen by a former foreign minister, Bob Carr.
Feng Chongyi, a professor at the university who has criticized the Communist Party’s suppression of dissent, said the institute had repeatedly brushed off his efforts to get involved.

Professor Feng said Australia must decide whether money or values defined its politics. 

“The question is whether you’re willing to make sacrifices to fight these illiberal tendencies,” he said, in his tiny office near the gleaming Chau Chak Wing Building on campus. 

“If you don’t maintain your core values, it’s all just business.”