Letter shows Huang Xiangmo still in charge of Beijing front group

Billionaire Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo is still in control of Beijing’s main umbrella organisation in the Asia-­Pacific.

Huang Xiangmo. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

Billionaire Chinese property developer and political donor Huang Xiang­mo has confirmed he is still in control of Beijing’s main umbrella organisation in the Asia-­Pacific, despite recent attempts to distance himself from the local Australian franchise in the wake of the Sam Dastyari scandal.

Companies linked to Mr Huang recently outlaid more than $1 billion to buy two landmark devel­opment sites on the Gold Coast and one in Sydney from an arm of troubled Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.

In a document obtained by The Australian, the Oceanic Alliance of the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China Inc, a regional grouping that encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, French Polynesia and New Caledonia, confirms that Mr Huang would remain president. The alliance, which academics assert has close ties to the Chinese state, appears to be an umbrella group enveloping, among others, the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China.

NSW Labor MP Ernest Wong, who was parachuted by the NSW Labor Party into the seat vacated by former NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal, made a speech at the launch of the alliance, according to Chinese media reports.

While he is listed as an adviser to the organisation on its website, after questions from The Australian, Mr Wong has denied this is the case. “I am not an adviser to this group ... I have not participated in or was invited to any activities of the body after the first meeting,” he told The Australian.

The ACPPRC is considered Beijing’s main platform in Australia for increasing China’s influence.

New Zealand academic Anne-Marie Brady from the University of Canterbury, who researches China’s global reach, has said the Peaceful Reunification of China Association of New Zealand came directly under the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee. The department works to increase the influence of China abroad and gather support for the country’s political agenda.

Late last year, Mr Huang announced he would be resigning the presidency of the ACPPRC in order to focus on his business interests.

But University of Technology professor Chongyi Feng, an expert on China’s use of soft power, said the announcement suggested nothing had changed. Professor Feng said the news also suggested the Oceanic Alliance was replacing the ACPPRC as one of Beijing’s premier front groups in Australia.

Mr Huang’s resignation from the ACPPRC followed revelations that disgraced former senator Dastyari had helped Mr Huang, whose alleged relationship with the CCP has been a source of concern to ASIO, evade what Mr Dastyari feared might be ASIO surveillance.

The scandal broke amid heightened concerns about Beijing’s alleged involvement in Australian politics and coincided with the introduction of tough new foreign interference laws aimed at curbing Chinese influence.

Mr Huang has vigorously rejected claims he has ever acted as an agent for the Chinese government and made a formal complaint to ASIO.

Last week’s newsletter — sent out by the organisation’s secretariat — suggests Mr Huang will continue to play an active role in Chinese community politics. It says Mr Huang has personally ­appointed two officials from the Australian Council — Qun Shao and Guoxing Li — as vice-presidents of the Oceanic Alliance’s first board meeting. “(The Oceanic Alliance) … will, as always, be under the leadership of President Xiangmo Huang,’’ the letter reads.

According to Professor Feng, the announcement makes clear Mr Huang is still a central player in Chinese community affairs.

“The news that he appoints the vice-presidents means that he’s higher up,’’ Professor Feng said. “It also means he’s got very strong support in Beijing.’’

A spokesman for Mr Huang disputed the account. He described the letter as “housekeeping” and said the Oceanic Alliance was a “symbolic grouping” which was “largely inactive”. “Mr Huang agreed to stay on as chairman of the Oceanic Alliance when he resigned his position as head of the ACPPRC as a courtesy to members because of the inconvenience of convening a meeting of members to appoint a new chair,” the spokesman said.