Suva businessman Fugang Zhao has denied allegations by Australian news organisations that he is engaged in unlawful activities in Fiji.
Mr Zhao, the owner of Suva’s Yue Lai Hotel, said through his lawyer Nikheel Nambiar yesterday that the allegations made against him were “false and misleading”.
The 60 Minutes program of the Nine News Network, the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s The Age newspaper also alleged that Mr Zhao worked in Fiji as an agent of influence for the Chinese government. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told this newspaper yesterday that he did not know Mr Zhao and would not comment on the allegations.
“And I do not know who else is an agent here,” he said.
Asked if the Government would be looking into the allegations, Mr Rabuka replied: “Not Government in the political sense but the government agencies that are involved.
“If (Home Affairs Minister Pio) Tikoduadua has spoken, the agencies that deal with that are under his portfolio.”
Contacted for comment yesterday Mr Tikoduadua said: “Allegations raised in recent Australian media reports about the owner of Yue Lai Hotel are not new, as this matter has been the subject of investigations by the Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit for a long time.
“I will however reiterate what I told the 60 Minutes Australia interview, that if anyone has any evidence about these allegations, this should be reported to the Fiji Police Force to investigate.”
Last weekend a television news network and two newspapers in Australia claimed that Mr Zhao was an agent of influence in Fiji working for the Government of China. Mr Nambiar said yesterday that Mr Zhao was in China.
“What I can basically say is that the allegations and false and misleading,” he told this newspaper.
“We invite any organisation who is investigating these particular complaints to come forward and put those allegations to Mr Zhao and he will be able to respond to that.
“To date he has never been contacted (about) any such allegations. So he is not even aware of any investigations going on against him. So there is not much he can say about it.
“In fact, he is asking whatever information there In relation to these matters to be put to him.”
In their weekend reporting the Australian media organisations claimed that Mr Zhao’s Yue Lai hotel was a base for promoting China’s influence in Fiji, including security ties.
An international news body, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), reported that Mr Zhao, asked if he worked for the Chinese government, answered: “Yes”.
According to OCCRP China’s embassy in Suva declined to answer questions about Mr Zhao, a naturalised citizen of Fiji, and said all questions should be directed to local officials.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to and is fully committed to protecting the safety and lawful rights and interest of overseas Chinese nationals. We always ask overseas Chinese nationals to comply with local laws and regulations, and not to engage in any illegal activities,” the embassy is quoted telling OCCRP.
“Your suspicion of the relation between Chinese government and Chinese community in Fiji is entirely groundless.”
