Police arrested two democratic lawmakers who were attacked in the incident. As part of the assault on civil society following the new national security law, Hong Kong police are now blaming the attack by triad thugs against protesters last year-when police stood by-on the protesters themselves. Hong Kong police arrest victims of triad assault. Today’s anti-gang campaign is more likely to consolidate organized crime by higher-level Chinese officials, as happened in Chongqing during Bo Xilai’s war on the city’s gangs. It’s worth noting Federico Varese’s study of attempts by the Hong Kong triad to break into China in the 1990s, which found that the offshore gangsters failed because the CCP already performed all the functions of organized crime. Mao-era language dominates the campaign, which portrays command of the security services as the CCP’s “knife handle.” Of particular concern for the party are links between organized crime and the police. China isn’t defunding the police, but it is carrying out a large purge for corruption, insufficient political loyalty, and laziness. The political consequences of China killing several thousand Americans are less talked about. That seems to stem in part from a long-held belief that military casualties would drive the United States away from a conflict. intervention in the South China Sea or in the event of a war with Taiwan. The United States observed the exercise closely, sending a U-2 spy plane into China’s no-fly zone and prompting complaints from Beijing.Ĭhina’s military assumes that the ability to destroy carriers can deter U.S. China launched two missiles in the South China Sea this week as part of a training exercise, including a “ship-killer” designed to sink aircraft carriers. relations degenerate with China, the space for those like Guo to operate will grow. drive to the Iraq War, making a series of exaggerated claims that were taken seriously by political and military leaders. Chalabi played a malignant role in the U.S. Take Ahmed Chalabi, the Baghdad multimillionaire who fled Iraq after becoming wrapped up in a Jordanian financial scandal. Western policymakers should be wary of figures like Guo. The Hurun Rich List, which tracks wealth in Asia, is sometimes called the “ pig slaughter list” in China, since its members are so frequently purged.ĭangerous figures. Lastly, keeping the rich at home in line is a key part of CCP strategy. And unlike most actual dissidents, he has money that he invests in areas usually dominated by the CCP, such as Chinese-language media. Why is Guo a CCP target? As a participant in contests among Beijing’s elite, Guo probably does know where some of the bodies are buried-even if most of his allegations can’t be verified. He says the lawsuits are cooked up by the CCP. political affairs, where he has made claims about CCP corruption, became close with operatives such as Bannon, and faces an array of lawsuits, including charges of sexual harassment. ![]() But he was closely tied to longtime security minister Ma Jian, and when Ma fell it prompted Guo’s permanent departure. Guo’s departure from China in 2015 was not a matter of conscience he participated in high-level business and political affairs until he left. He is a familiar type in emigre circles: the man who loses a power struggle at home and then flees abroad, where he tries to present himself as offering insider insight into his home country. ![]() Guo is often labeled as an activist or a dissident, but he is neither. charges dropped against Malaysian fraudster Jho Low, currently protected by China.) Another notorious conservative figure, the Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, is accused of illegally lobbying for China-including an attempt at the request of a high-ranking Chinese official to get Guo extradited for bribery charges. Guo, a powerful Bannon funder, is facing an FBI investigation into a company of his own-also linked to Bannon.īut Guo is also a high-profile target for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to his status as a rich fugitive. When the far-right agitator and former White House strategist Steve Bannon was arrested last week on fraud charges, he was sunning on the yacht of the renegade Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Kwok.
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