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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/2/11/184102.shtml
FOIA Documents on Li Ka-Shing http://www.softwar.net/kashing.html
Chinese Billionaire Wants Global Crossing
Red Moneyman Seeks to Take Over U.S. Communications Giant
Global Crossing, the largest telecom company in U.S. history to
seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has agreed to a buyout by
Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Singapore Technologies
Telemedia Ltd.
Under terms of the agreement, Hutchison and STT would each
invest $375 million in cash in the Bermuda-based company.
Creditors would receive the remaining 21 percent equity of the
firm, $300 million in cash and $800 million in notes, in
exchange for forgiving the company's debt.
According to the agreement, Global's shareholders would receive
nothing.
However, the Global Crossing buyout by Hutchison Whampoa is
drawing fire from inside Capitol Hill. At issue is the role of
billionaire Li Ka-Shing, Hong Kong's most well-known
businessman, whose companies make up 15 percent of the market
capitalization of the Hong Kong stock market.
Li Ka-Shing's empire includes Hutchison Whampoa, Chinese ports,
telecom, energy assets and the Panama Canal.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, has sent letters
to President Bush, the attorney general, the Department of
Defense and the investigative arm of Congress demanding an
inquiry into the plan, according to Al Santoli, national
security adviser to Rohrabacher.
"The purchase of Global Crossing by Li Ka-Shing is another step
as his role of a stalker for the People's Republic of China,"
stated Santoli.
Rep. Rohrabacher claims Li's close connections to the Chinese
government should disqualify him from owning Global Crossing's
network. Li Ka-Shing's ownership also raises national security
issues. Global is a major bidder for U.S. Defense communications
contracts.
Global Crossing recently lost a $400 million U.S. defense
contract to provide secure communications for the U.S. military.
The contract remains a major part of the controversy surrounding
the bankrupt telecommunications giant, which also reportedly
controls 20 percent of all the fiber-optic cable leaving the
United States.
"China is gaining access to global communications via [Li's]
acquisitions in air, land and space. There will be a big price
to pay for this if the PRC were to decide to call in its chips
in the event of conflict with the West," noted Santoli.
"The Chinese government helps Li Ka-Shing, and his close ties to
PLA intelligence are well known," said Santoli.
Li Ka-Shing's Links to the PLA
There is overwhelming evidence to support the assertions that Li
Ka-Shing is part of the communist Chinese government. According
to documents obtained using the Freedom of Information Act "Li's
relationship with senior PRC officials is very strong."
Li is not only in business with PRC President Jiang Zemin's son,
jointly developing property inside Tiananmen Square for the
communist government, but he also is directly in business with
the Chinese military through its vast empire of front companies
such as weapons maker Poly Technologies Inc.
Li Ka-Shing's direct business contacts with the Chinese army
were documented in a 1997 Rand Corporation report on the Chinese
military industry.
According to the 1997 Rand report, "Hutchison Whampoa of Hong
Kong, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, is also
negotiating for PLA wireless system contracts, which would build
upon his equity interest in Poly-owned Yangpu Land Development
Company, which is building infrastructure on China's Hainan
Island."
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
(CITIC).
The Rand Corporation report noted that CITIC had acted as a
front for Poly Technologies Inc., the arms manufacturer owned
directly by the Chinese army.
"CITIC does enter into business partnerships with and provide
logistical assistance to PLA and defense-industrial companies
like Poly," noted the 1997 Rand report.
"Poly Technologies, Ltd., was founded in 1984, ostensibly as a
subsidiary of CITIC, although it was later exposed to be the
primary commercial arm of the PLA General Staff Department's
Equipment Sub-Department," states the Rand report.
"Throughout the 1980s, Poly sold hundreds of millions of dollars
of largely surplus arms around the world, exporting to customers
in Thailand, Burma, Iran, Pakistan, and the United States."
"Poly's U.S. subsidiaries were abruptly closed in August 1996.
Allegedly, Poly's representative, Robert Ma, conspired with
China North Industries Corporation's (NORINCO) representative,
Richard Chen, and a number of businessmen in California to
illegally import 2000 AK-47s into the United States," states the
Rand report.
Li Ka-Shing is also part owner of a firm involved in the illegal
transfer of missile technology to the Chinese army. The Commerce
documents show that Li owns one-third of Asia Satellite
Telecommunications Holdings, or AsiaSat.
According to Aviation Week and Space Technology, AsiaSat is also
partly owned by the Chinese army. AsiaSat satellites regularly
carry "military communications" traffic for PLA units and
Chinese military-owned companies.
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin pleaded guilty to 30
counts of illegal missile technology exports to AsiaSat.
Lockheed Martin agreed to pay the U.S. government $13 million in
fines for the illegal transfer of "kick-motor" technology to
AsiaSat in order to avoid export restrictions.
Li Ka-Shing's Links to PRC Intelligence
The Hong Kong billionaire has even closer ties to the Chinese
army. Li Ka-Shing is in business with China Resources, a firm
operated directly by the Military Intelligence Department of the
PLA headquarters. According to Senate testimony, China Resources
is "an agent of espionage – economic, military and political –
for China."
China Resources Enterprises has previously been accused of
illegal donations to the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election campaign.
According to Senate testimony, China Resources Enterprises was
directly linked to Chinese military espionage and Indonesian
billionaire Moctar Riady.
"Lippo group, run by the Riady family, which employed [John]
Huang, had over the past few years become a major business
partner with China Resources, a trading company wholly owned by
the Government of the peoples republic of China, and which has
reportedly served as an intelligence-collection front for
China," noted Sen. Thompson during his summary of the China
campaign finance scandal.
According to a frantic 1996 cable from the U.S. Embassy in
Panama, China Resources put a $400 million investment into Li
Ka-Shing's Hutchison Whampoa as part of a "front" company
controlled by Beijing.
"Embassy Panama has received information to the effect that HIT
(Hutchison International Terminals) is controlled by mainland
Chinese perhaps through a Macao front which allegedly recently
invested $400 million in HIT," states the cable. "Such control
would have security implications and might affect the Panamanian
government's views on awarding the port concessions."
In fact, according to an Oct. 1999 "Intelligence Assessment"
prepared by the U.S. military Southern Command, the Hong Kong
billionaire is a potential threat to America.
"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," concluded the U.S. military
intelligence report.
U.S. Commerce Department documents also show that U.S. law
enforcement agencies were very concerned about billionaire Li
Ka-Shing and his connections to international smuggling.
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. The U.S. Embassy
in Nassau copied the cable to several law enforcement agencies
including the U.S. 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."
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," stated an August 1999 cable from the
American Embassy in Hong Kong.
"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 HK$10 billion (US$1.3
billion) project because of the unfavorable business climate
created by Hong Kong's politicized (more democratic) business
climate," continued the cable.
The Monkey's Uncle
Despite his hostile attitude toward democracy, Li Ka-Shing met
frequently with the Clinton administration.
Documents from the Commerce Department show that Clinton
Commerce Secretary William Daley met with the Beijing tycoon at
a 1997 luncheon hosted by the powerful investment firm Goldman
Sachs. Daley later went on to lead Vice President Al Gore's
failed 2000 presidential bid.
The Commerce documents note that an informal "talk" between
Daley, Li and several "influential business people" was held on
the Goldman Sachs boat, the "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 also show that Daly and Li met on board
the "Monkey's Uncle" with some of the leading Beijing-owned
businesses, including some directly associated with the Chinese
army – China Resources, CITIC and China Everbright.
The documents note 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.
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 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
allegedly is involved in the heroin smuggling business inside
Burma. In 1997, Commerce Secretary Daley met with Kwok and his
son Peter. Peter Kwok is the business partner of Sen. Dianne
Feinstein's husband, Robert Blum. Feinstein is a Democrat from
California.
Peter has also worked for Li Ka-Shing and the Chinese army. In
1989, he helped CITIC and Li Ka-Shing raise $120 million to buy
a Highes-built communications satellite for AsiaSat, a company
part-owned by the Chinese army unit COSTIND (the Commission on
Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense).
Clearly, Li Ka-Shing is not only a tool of the People's
Liberation Army, he also should be a member in standing when one
considers the vast amount of technology, money and resources he
has brought to the Chinese military.
It is sad testimony that after the disastrous events of Sept. 11
we should so quickly forget the fact that the Chinese army
continued to supply al-Qaeda with arms even after the terrorist
strikes.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's efforts to investigate Beijing's
billionaire takeover of Global Crossing deserves the highest
priority, because our national security is at stake.
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