http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith/20000607_xcsof_cash_regis.shtml
'Cash register' Li Ka-Shing
Li Ka-Shing is no ordinary billionaire. Mr. Li's company
currently operates the two ports on the Panama Canal,
the Pacific port of Balboa and the Atlantic port of
Cristobal. According to recently declassified documents
from the U.S. Commerce Department, Li Ka-Shing is a
very special man in Beijing, Washington and Hong
Kong.
"Li is reputed to have a close business relationship with
key figures in Beijing," states an August 1999 from the
American Embassy in Hong Kong. "And he has a
number of real estate and infrastructure projects in the
mainland. These close relationships were said to be key
to his obtaining the prime site on Beijing's Wangfujing
for his USD2 billion Oriental Plaza Project. Some have
suggested that it was because of Li's mainland
connections that the man behind the 1996 kidnapping of
his son Victor was arrested last year in China and
swiftly executed. Li is a leading member of Hong
Kong's ethnic Chinese business elite, a tycoon who is no
democrat. This fact is reflected in his recent claim that
he canceled a HKD10 billion (USD1.3 billion) project
because of the unfavorable business climate created by
Hong Kong's politicized (more democratic) business
climate."
The Commerce Department documents also show that
law enforcement agencies were very concerned about
Li Ka-Shing's connections to the Triad gangs. A 1995
cable from the American Embassy in Nassau noted that
Li Ka-Shing had signed an agreement to build an $88
million container ship terminal in the Grand Bahamas.
Curiously, for a harmless deal done by a Hong Kong
tycoon, the copy list for the cable is addressed to
several law enforcement agencies such as the Customs
Service and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
"Reftel describes U.S. agencies' security concerns about
possible smuggling attempts through the terminal," states
the cable from the American Embassy. "Post will
request via septel assistance in addressing these
concerns while port development plans are still on the
drawing board."
One document on Li Ka-Shing, previously discovered
by Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch, a Washington,
D.C.-based legal watchdog group, came from the U.S.
Defense Department. According to the October 1999
"Intelligence Assessment," prepared by the U.S. military
Southern Command, the Hong Kong billionaire is a
"threat" to the Panama Canal:
"Hutchison Whampoa's owner, Hong Kong tycoon, Li
Ka-Shing, has extensive business ties in Beijing and has
compelling financial reasons to maintain a good
relationship with China's leadership," states the 1999
assessment. "For example, Hutchison Whampoa could
threaten to shift some business from Panama to its
facilities in the Bahamas, thus giving the company
additional leverage over the Panamanian government."
The U.S. military intelligence report concluded:
"Hutchison's containerized shipping facilities in the
Panama Canal, as well as the Bahamas, could provide a
conduit for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited
items from the west to the PRC, or facilitate the
movement of arms and other prohibited items into the
Americas."
However, the newly released documents from the
Commerce Department show that current Commerce
Secretary Daley met with the Beijing tycoon at a 1997
luncheon hosted by the powerful investment firm
Goldman Sachs. The Commerce documents note that
an informal "talk" between Daley, Mr. Li and several
"influential business people" was held on the Goldman
Sachs' boat "Monkey's Uncle" during a 1997 Hong
Kong trade trip.
"Goldman Sachs' boat ('Monkey's Uncle') will depart
from the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter at 11:30 am.
The boat will sail near the new airport site at Chek Lap
Kok. Lunch will be served on board."
The Commerce documents show that Daly and Li met
on board the "Monkey's Uncle" with some of the
leading Beijing owned businesses including two directly
associated with the Chinese Army -- CITIC and, China
Everbright. Some other "influential business people"
were also included on the guest list for the lunch cruise.
Among the leading figures are Raymond Kwok, Robert
Kwok, and Canning Fok.
The newly released documents show that alleged
organized crime "Triad" gangsters were included on the
1997 voyage of the "Monkey's Uncle." According to
official U.S. Commerce materials, Secretary Daley
sailed on a paradise cruise from Hong Kong with the
"who's who" of Triad mob families.
According to a recent biography entitled "Li Ka-Shing,"
the billionaire formed a partnership with two leading
members of the Asian "Triad" organized crime families,
Robert Kwok and Henry Fok, to form the China
International Trust Investment Company. A Rand
Corporation report on CITIC noted that the Beijing
based investment firm had acted as a front for Poly
Technologies Inc., an arms manufacturer owned directly
by the Chinese army.
The Fok family leader, Henry Fok, is reported to be a
member of the 14K Triad. According to Ed Timperlake
and Bill Triplett, co-authors of "Red Dragon Rising,"
"Henry Fok first made his name by running United
Nations-embargoed goods to China during the Korean
War. His son was later convicted for trying to bring
Chinese machine guns into the United States."
Robert Kwok reportedly leads the Kwok family
businesses and is allegedly involved in the heroin
smuggling business inside Burma. In 1997, Commerce
Secretary Daley met with the Robert and his son Kwok.
Peter Kwok is the business partner of Sen. Dianne
Feinstien's, democrat from California, husband Robert
Blum.
Peter has also worked for Li Ka-Shing and the Chinese
Army. In 1989, Peter Kwok helped CITIC and Li
Ka-Shing raise $120 million to buy a Hughes-built
communications satellite for AsiaSat, a company part
owned by the Chinese army unit COSTIND, or the
Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for
National Defense.
Clearly, the concerns at DEA, Customs and the
Defense Department about arms smuggling, drugs and
stolen military technology are well founded and well
documented. It does not take a "Monkey's Uncle" to
figure out exactly what kind of businessman Li Ka-Shing
is. However, those concerns either fell on deaf ears or
were ignored at the U.S. Commerce Department. Mr.
Li met with Secretary Daley on board the "Monkey's
Uncle" in 1997 and no questions were asked.
Li Ka-Shing is not interested in democracy. Li
Ka-Shing is in business to make money, and for that he
will cut a deal with anyone, including Goldman Sachs,
the Chinese mob and the People's Liberation Army.
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source documents - http://www.softwar.net/kashing.html
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