Mysterious Chinese extradited to New York for trial by U.S. Department of Justice:

NEW YORK - A Chinese man and woman were extradited from Thailand to New York by the U.S. government, completing a two-year judicial process that brought them to U.S. courts on charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering.On September 6, the couple, 50-year-old Chen Hong (English name Cary Yan) and 34-year-old Zhou Chaoting (sound, Chaoting Zhou), appeared in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York. innocent.Two years ago, in August 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an indictment against them. Chen and Zhou were arrested by Thai police in November of that year and extradited to the United States at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. On September 2, they were transported to New York, where a judge unsealed the indictment.Both Chen and Zhou traveled on passports from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the indictment said. Before fleeing to Thailand, he was mainly active in New York, USA and Hong Kong, China.The indictment alleges that between late 2016 and 2019, Chen and Zhou bribed Marshall Islands officials with funds from China and elsewhere in New York on behalf of an NGO with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council to influence them Passing legislation to develop a semi-autonomous special economic zone similar to Hong Kong in the Marshall Islands atoll area to enable them and their organisations to bring in Chinese investors to participate in economic and social projects there.The pair face up to 20 years in prison each for each count of money laundering and up to five years in prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department statement said.The judge in the case, Naomi Reice Buchwald, announced that the next hearing in the case would be Oct. 25.

Who is Cary Yan ?

The mystery of the accused lies above all in the name of the male accused. The indictment uses his English name, Cary Yan, and lists other names, Hong Hui Yan and Chen Hong. How to determine Cary Yan's Chinese name?The indictment did not disclose the name of the NGO founded by the defendant, only NGO was used instead. But according to a meeting held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on August 25, 2017 and a video by the name of Cary Yan speaking in Chinese, it was compared with China's official Xinhua News Agency's coverage of the event the following day, on August 26. , you can associate Cary Yan with the name "Chen Hong".

Xinhua News Agency’s report from the United Nations titled “International NGOs Led by Chinese Entrepreneurs Bring Latin American Politicians to the United Nations” said, “The Board of Directors of the International Organization for Governance and Competitiveness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (hereinafter referred to as WOGC in English) Chairman Chen Hong".When Baidu introduced its team under the organization's entry, it clearly listed its chairman as Cary Yan, with "Marshall Islands" in parentheses, which is consistent with the indictment that the defendant was a naturalized citizen of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.Another mystery is that Chen Hong has been in contact with UN officials and diplomats of some small countries to promote the Chinese development model in the name of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a non-Chinese citizen. to the shadow of the Chinese mission to the United Nations.Xinhua News Agency reported that the international non-governmental organization led by Chen Hong “joined more than 30 senior government officials from Latin America and Pacific island countries and about 300 people from local business circles and social circles from China and the United States to hold a theme for the United Nations Headquarters. 'Towards a Sustainable Future: Inclusive Innovation from Commitment to Results' Multinational Symposium."The report said that the meeting "mainly discusses how to combine China's technology, management, and innovative ideas with the resources of Latin America, Pacific island countries and Africa, and practically implement the United Nations' sustainable development goals.""The VIP list includes former President Marshall, two former Guatemalan presidents, former Vice President of Costa Rica, former Vice President and current Speaker of El Salvador, former Vice President of Honduras, Panama Speaker Freidi Torres, and Central American Leaders of regional organizations, etc.”The organization has been granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has also entered into a contractual relationship with Plan Trifinio, an intergovernmental organization co-sponsored by the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the report said. UN-accredited IGO compact status.On September 19, 2016, the "International Organization for Global Governance and Competitiveness" established by Chen Hong held a founding reception during the opening of the 71st UN General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh attended and spoke.Observers say it is hard to imagine a Marshall Islands citizen speaking in a conference room at United Nations Headquarters, speaking Mandarin with a strong local accent, not only starting an NGO with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, but also at the United Nations Headquarters. High-profile contacts with senior UN officials, including former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and some heads of state, without the knowledge of the Chinese delegation to the UN.The Marshall Islands are of strategic importance to the United StatesU.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said Chen and Zhou's bribery scheme "was designed to influence and manipulate the legislative process in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to benefit themselves and their associates financially."The Marshall Islands is a North Pacific island country located between Hawaii and Asia. After World War II, the United Nations assigned the United States to administer the Pacific Islands Trust Territory, including the Marshall Islands. In 1986, the United States and the Marshall Islands signed the Treaty of Free Association, making them a sovereign nation in free association with the United States. The treaty was revised in 2003 and entered into force in 2004; the revised treaty has no expiration date.According to the U.S. Department of State's End-2021 Fact Sheet on U.S. Relations with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, "The Republic of the Marshall Islands and the United States agree that the United States has full authority and responsibility for defense and security matters within and in relation to the Marshall Islands."Under the Amendment Treaty, eligible Marshall Islands citizens may travel to the United States to live, work and study without a visa. Citizens of the Marshall Islands may also serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.U.S. troops are stationed at Garrison Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which includes the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the northern Marshall Islands. The United States has provided more than $600 million (more than $1 billion in inflation-adjusted current value) to affected communities under the 1986 Treaty, including direct financial settlement of nuclear claims, resettlement funding, restoration of affected atolls and radiation-related health care costs.Under the Amendment Treaty, the U.S. government provides more than $80 million a year in aid to the Marshall Islands — through fiscal 2023. In 2020, the bilateral trade volume between the United States and Malaysia is US$150 million, of which the Marshall Islands exports US$120 million in goods to the US and imports US$30.8 million in goods.The Marshall Islands established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in November 1990; in 1998, it turned to the Republic of China in Taiwan, and Beijing severed diplomatic relations with it in the same year. The Marshall Islands is one of the 14 countries that Taiwan currently has diplomatic relations with.The Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands was made uninhabitable due to severe pollution from the 1954 U.S. hydrogen bomb test. The area has gradually recovered since 2011, and about 80 people live there.The defendants Chen and Zhou wanted to establish a special economic zone in this atoll area. They proposed a plan called RASAR, that is, "Rangelap Atoll Special Administrative Region". What they tried to pass in Congress by bribing Marshall Islands officials was the bill to establish this administrative region.Geopolitical rivalry between China and the US for Pacific island nationsChen Hong's plan to create a "mini-state" in the Marshall Islands, a semi autonomous special economic zone similar to Hong Kong, has divided the Pacific island nation's politics.The Financial Times reported in 2019, “In the Marshall Islands, Chinese investor Cary Yan (Chen Hong) leased a large tract of land in Ranglap, one of the atolls most affected by the US nuclear bomb test. Chen Hong has proposed the creation of a special economic zone that his company says would be able to issue Marshall Islands passports to residents on its own. While he hasn't built anything yet, he has sold the idea to potential Chinese investors as a way to as a way to obtain U.S. residency."“Last year, when supporters launched a vote of no confidence in President Hilda Heine, the project had the unintended political consequence of wanting to replace her with someone more friendly to China. She barely survived the vote."

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Marshall Islands President Hilda Hine attend the honor guard welcoming ceremony in Taipei. (July 27, 2018)

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Marshall Islands President Hilda Hine attend the honor guard welcoming ceremony in Taipei. (July 27, 2018)

The Guardian reported on September 8 that the former president of the Marshall Islands, Hilda Hein, asked for an investigation into the "mini-state" plan implemented by the Chinese men and women there.When Hein was in power, she was voted of no confidence in Congress for opposing the plan, and she was nearly ousted by one vote.The bill to support the plan was not brought to Congress for a vote because of constitutional issues raised by opponents.The indictment alleges that an unnamed Marshall Islands official emailed Chen and Zhou vowing to "retaliate" for Hein's successful opposition to the bill.In January 2020, Hein was defeated and stepped down. Chen and Zhou emailed the official promising that their family would become "one of the most powerful people" in the Marshall Islands if the resolution supporting the bill was passed. The bill establishing the special economic zone was passed in March of that year.Last week, two naturalized Marshallese citizens were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice and extradited to the U.S. on suspicion of bribing a number of elected leaders there, former Marshall Islands president Hill Dahain told Congress, Radio New Zealand reported. , which is "a big shame for the Marshall Islands".Current opposition member and former health minister Kalani Kaneko urged the government to cooperate with the FBI in investigating allegations of bribery of political officials in the Marshall Islands in the Justice Department indictment, the report said.As part of a geopolitical struggle between the two superpowers in the Pacific, the report said, "Some see the RASAR program as an entry point for China to enter the Pacific countries that are allied with the United States and Taiwan." "Some others They said it was to help the economic development of the islands."Who is Chen Hong?Cary Yan, founder of a New York-based NGO, has been named Chen Hong in Chinese by reports from China's official Xinhua News Agency. But in China, who is this "Chen Hong"?At least two columns on China Central Television's "Discovery Journey" channel sponsored by China Southern Airlines - "Discover China" and "Record the East" gave unanimous answers to his interviews: Chen Hong - China Jinhui International Holding Group Co., Ltd. Chairman of the company.The "Shang Shan Ruo "Water" in the "Discover China" column records a "sacred water" that "turned out" and can cure all diseases - SSG raw water. "It metabolizes all the things that affect your health in your body and re-establishes a balance system for you," said Chen Hong, chairman of China Jinhui International Holdings Group Co., Ltd. in the video.With Chen Hong's title of entrepreneur in China, I found out that on November 18, 2012, he and local leaders of Songzi City, Hubei Province participated in the opening ceremony of Jinhui Group's pilot base for exploring potassium resources in Songzi. news.Jinhui International Holding Group said that after exploration and drilling, if its pilot plant is put into operation, it can produce 5,000 tons of high-quality potassium chloride, 100,000 tons of sodium chloride, 5,000 tons of calcium chloride, 60 tons of odor, and 6.5 tons of odor every year. Medical iodine can achieve an industrial output value of 100 million yuan.But since then, Jinhui Group has not seen the successful output of these resources, but the funds invested in its exploration and drilling projects seem to have been in vain. The group said that they discovered "SSG life element energy fluid", which has made many promises The "Shen Shui" that Bell scientists were shocked by.Relevant publicity materials claim that this "muddy water drilled from below 10,000 meters is ancient ocean water that was sealed by the earth's crust 970 million years ago. The trace elements have not only been confirmed by the analysis of the research institutes affiliated to the NASA, but also obtained the circulation certification of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing."Searching for "Chen Hong" and "Jinhui International Holding Group", you can get many photos of him and his group executives donating SSL.On May 21, 2021, "Procuratorial Daily" reported, "Recently, the Baohe District Procuratorate of Hefei City, Anhui Province prosecuted a case of organizing and leading a pyramid scheme." In June, what they were selling was "the 'life energy liquid' that was certified by NASA and could cure all diseases." "Not only can you keep youth forever, but it can also cure diseases and save lives. The selling price is only 1,000 yuan per bottle. ."According to the report, the MLM case involved "more than 49,000 members, with 205 levels and a sales amount of nearly 900 million yuan."From Cary Yan, founder of the International Organization for Global Governance and Competitiveness, to Chen Hong, Chairman of Jinhui International Holding Group Co., Ltd.; from discovering "Shen Shui" in China to promoting China's development model in the United Nations to solve global poverty , and then to rent land there as a Marshall Islands citizen to build a special zone, you can see some unconnected truths about the defendant now held in the Federal Southern District Detention Facility of New York, which seems to help people understand why he is in Reason for using different names on different occasions: He didn't want to let his more important mission at the United Nations and the Marshall Islands be distracted by the easy-to-debt advertisements.But it is unclear whether he is using the Chinese government's policies for his own personal gain, or whether Beijing is using him behind the scenes to do things the government can't.In reporting the news, Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz quoted Cleo Paskal, an Indo-Pacific expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, as saying that China is The Marshall Islands work in secrecy. "The charges in the indictment show that these activities were part of a covert Chinese influence operation using proxies, as there is no Chinese embassy in the Marshall Islands."The website of the International Organization for Global Governance and Competitiveness could not be found. On its Twitter feed the group has only tweeted until October 2018. The organization's contact details were not available for its response at press time.