Chinese developer Jiang Xiao posts happy snaps with Labor luminaries
THREE Labor luminaries have been photographed with controversial developer Jiang Xiao, the man behind a company offering Asian investors a “permanent resident visa” if they buy into his multimillion-dollar housing scheme.
NSW
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THREE Labor luminaries have been photographed with controversial developer Jiang Xiao, the man behind a company offering Asian investors a “permanent resident visa” if they buy into his multimillion-dollar housing scheme.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, former NSW premier and now senator Kristina Keneally and former prime minister Kevin Rudd have all been photographed separately with Mr Xiao. He has posted the images to his Chinese “wechat” social media account.
The Daily Telegraph does not make any claims about a relationship between the politicians and Mr Xiao, but the issue of foreign ownership and of Chinese influence in Australian politics is a political hot potato.
Mr Xiao claimed on his website to be Rundu Australia chief executive director, though there is no company of that name registered in this country. In China, however, Rundu Group received Chinese government political endorsement in 2000.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said last year Australian politicians “had not grasped the nature and magnitude of the threat” from China’s political interference after he received a report he ordered in 2016.
The report indicated China had tried to influence all political parties for more than a decade.
Labor’s Sam Dastyari quit the Senate in January after questionable dealings with pro-Beijing businessmen and claims he sought to influence foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek to cancel a meeting with a Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner.
In April, Mr Turnbull said: “[It is] very important that the Australian Government ensures that only Australians are influencing our political processes and where foreigners seek to influence they do so openly and transparently.”
The Telegraph revealed this week Mr Xiao was promising would-be investors “one step towards a green card in six months” along with marketing literature for a new development of 223 houses in Millfield, The Hunter Valley.
Before he abruptly shut down his website, hours after the Telegraph story appeared, Mr Xiao claimed a $1.5 million investment could give “People in China” Australian permanent residency in “as little as six months”.
“In your own time, easily establish and expand an Australia-China business.”
He vowed an investment would give “750 sqm of land in Sydney’s suburbs, with a four bedroom, two storey freestanding house” and access to political circles, “even if you don’t understand English”.
On seeing Mr Xiao’s photographs, however, Mr Shorten, Mr Rudd and Ms Keneally all said they did not know him.
A spokesman for Mr Rudd said: “We have no record of Mr Rudd ever meeting Mr Jiang. Nor does Mr Rudd have any recollection of having met him. Mr Rudd has been photographed with literally thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of Chinese individuals at various official functions over the years.”
Ms Keneally also denied knowing Mr Xiao.
“This photo appears to have been snapped during the Bennelong by-election campaign,” a spokesman for Ms Keneally said.
The spokesman said Ms Keneally had no memory of meeting “this person” and did not recognise his name or that of his company.
A spokesman for Mr Shorten said: “Bill was walking through Chinatown in Sydney’s CBD and was stopped by a lot of people for photos. It happens every day. He does not know every person who asks him for a photo.”