Grubsheet urges our readers to take in the full magnitude of sensational print and television stories currently breaking in Australia that blow the lid off Chinese activities in Fiji and the Pacific.
The Nine media organisation – with the assistance of Australian intelligence sources – names the owner of the Yue Lai restaurant in Suva, Zhao Fugang, as not only the main unofficial agent of influence of the Chinese state in Fiji but also the biggest crime figure in the region – allegedly associated with drug trafficking and a broad range of other illegal activities.
Zhao Fugang was close to the former prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, and was reputed to have regular drinking sessions with him at the Yue Lai in which Fugang allegedly passed cash to Bainimarama, ostensibly for the FijiFirst Party. He was also close to the suspended Police Commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho, which if the Australian allegations are correct, raises serious questions about the nature of their relationship and the alleged influence of organised crime on police operations in Fiji.
The joint stories by Nine’s top investigative reporter, Nick McKenzie, assisted by Amelia Ballinger, in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and Nine’s 60 Minutes also raise serious questions about what the Coalition government has known about illicit Chinese conduct in Fiji and why, after 14 months in office, it hasn’t moved against Zhao Fugang and his alleged crime syndicate. The Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, acknowledges that the Australian official intelligence has been passed to Fiji.
Why is Zhao Fugang still in business? Is it because as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party – as he freely admits to Nine media – he is regarded as untouchable? Or have at least some of those entrusted with the nation’s security been bought off?
There are also serious questions to be answered about the questions Grubsheet posed earlier today about the contradictory statements made by Sitiveni Rabuka and Pio Tikoduadua regarding the status of China’s joint security operations in Fiji. The Prime Minister tells Nine these have been suspended. Yet 24 hours later Pio Tikoduadua told Nick McKenzie they have been reactivated. What is the truth? And why is it that the Coalition government cannot speak with one voice on a matter of such vital national importance?
These are stories that are essential reading and viewing for every Fijian. They are deeply alarming if what is being alleged is true – that Chinese interests are at the centre of the drug trafficking in Fiji and the region that is bringing the country to its knees and is blighting the lives of thousands of Fijian young people.
A link to the 60 Minutes report as soon as it appears on YouTube. But first, the print version in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. More than enough to make you gag on your next Yum Cha.
Not trying to be racist but probably the Chinese Police can tell Chen from Chan? We don’t want to get into trouble for mistaken identity and all you know. For most Fijians, all Asians are Chinese.
Someone should investigate how come Qiliho only paid $55k for a lot on Fantasy Island that was selling for $250k in 2017. Did he pay the balance and if he did, how? If he didn’t pay it, then who paid the balance. If it was sold for less than the value, then was he bribed for something?
Good job by the Aussie authorities and investigators plus the journalists.