Citizen Yan to face authorities
Controversial Auckland businessman William Yan is understood to be heading back to China to speak with authorities.
The circumstances under which he is going remain shrouded in mystery. Yan has been branded an economic fugitive by his own country, and China alleges he embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars before fleeing to New Zealand.
Concerns over his safety should he return to China – including arrest, imprisonment, execution and organ harvesting – formed the basis for then associate immigration minister Shane Jones to grant him New Zealand citizenship in 2008.
It seems those concerns are no longer an issue, as Yan is travelling to China in the coming weeks to be interviewed by Chinese authorities. There is no suggestion he is being deported or forced back, despite China seeking that in the past.
Yan – also known as Bill Liu – remains a New Zealand citizen, entitled to consular assistance overseas should he require it.
His lawyer, Paul Wicks, QC, would not comment and said Yan was not willing to speak to media.
This month, Yan was at the centre of the single largest forfeiture in New Zealand. He, his wife and two associates surrendered almost $43m to police in late August, following a years-long money laundering inquiry.
While the settlement figure was made public, other parts of the deal – which was approved by the High Court – were kept secret. The money would be shared between the New Zealand and Chinese Governments.
Police have said Yan was not going to China as part of the deal they struck. Detective Superintendent Greg Williams, head of the Financial Crime Group, said: ‘‘Resolving matters with China is between China and Mr Yan and independent from the civil case the commissioner took against Mr Yan.’’
Yan has not been charged with any money-laundering offences and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully was in China for the first half of last week to talk on a number of issues.
It is understood the trip was planned at relatively short notice, but asked if he would seek assurances over Yan’s fair treatment there, McCully refused to comment. ‘‘My talks with Minister Wang Yi will cover the full suite of bilateral issues. I plan to show my counterpart the courtesy of speaking in person rather than through the media ahead of our meeting.’’
New Zealand has a number of tensions with its major trading partner, and it’s likely discussions will span trade, defence and extradition issues, for which Prime Minister John Key appeared to soften his stance during a state visit to China in April.
Then, he told China it was open to an extradition treaty provided they ‘‘meet the condition that [those extradited] wouldn’t be subjected to either torture or the death penalty’’.
Key also said there could be between 30 to 60 such economic fugitives living in New Zealand, if China’s claims were correct.
Last week, Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee was reprimanded by Chinese officials over New Zealand’s stance on the conflict over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
New Zealand is also seeking an upgrade to its eight-year-old free trade agreement, and will likely have questions over the Chinese Government’s role in a number of approaches to New Zealand exporters, threatening reprisals should a domestic investigation occur into allegations of Chinese steel dumping.