‘$100k donor’ disappointed over scandal
The millionaire Chinese businessman at the centre of electoral fraud allegations levelled at National Party leader Simon Bridges is very ‘‘disappointed’’ his name has been dragged into the scandal.
Rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross claimed Yikun Zhang made a $100,000 donation to the National Party.
He alleged Bridges asked him to split it into smaller parts so it could remain anonymous. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Zhang.
Southland mayor Gary Tong is in South China with Zhang, with whom he’s formed a ‘‘professional relationship and friendship’’ since the pair first met in 2016.
The nine-day trip, including flights, food and accommodation, was funded by the Chao Shan General Association of New Zealand, an organisation the Auckland businessman set up.
Speaking from China yesterday, Tong would not go into details of the pair’s discussions, but said Zhang had made no ‘‘personal contribution’’ to the donation.
‘‘Zhang is not the alleged donator of the funds,’’ Tong said.
‘‘I fully support Zhang and have no issues otherwise I would be on a plane coming home. Best you focus your efforts on Ross.’’
Tong did not think Zhang would comment publicly about the case until he returned home.
Bridges has said that Ross ‘‘defamed’’ him after he released a secret recording on Wednesday in which the pair discussed the donation.
On Wednesday, he said the ‘‘large sum of money’’ was intended to come from Zhang ‘‘and his supporters’’, which made it legal to split the donation into chunks for each supporter.
Tong’s relationship with Zhang has raised a few eyebrows this week in Southland.
Stuff has spoken to many of the district councillors. Few of them had heard of Zhang until the donation scandal erupted on Tuesday. Most knew Tong was in China, but didn’t really know why.
They want a full briefing from the mayor when he returns home on Monday.
Tong told Stuff he had ‘‘nothing to hide’’ and was transparent about his relationship with Zhang.
‘‘I can say hand on heart I’m here for the right reasons.’’
He and Zhang first met in a Southland restaurant in 2016 after the businessman learned about the Southland Regional Development Strategy, which aims to have 10,000 more people living in the region by 2025.
Zhang wanted to know if ‘‘there was any way he could help bring people to Southland through immigrants or through promoting some sort of business’’ in the region, Tong said.
The pair met again later that year at Zhang’s home in Auckland where mayors from across the country had gathered for a ‘‘Chinese promotion’’.
By that stage a friendship between the pair was developing.
In October 2017, Tong flew to China. He said he offered to pay his own way, but Zhang insisted that the Chao Shan General Association of New Zealand foot the bill ‘‘because he wanted me to see the Chinese culture’’.
‘‘He said you can’t promote anything unless you understand the culture and I have to say he was quite correct.’’
On that six-day trip, Tong said he met 30 high-level government officials and visited the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. A lot of time was spent travelling between meetings.
No deals were struck ‘‘this was purely an introduction’’, Tong said.
One of the people he met was the deputy mayor of Shantou, a city on the east coast of Guangdong, which had a similar landscape to Southland. It also had an interest in aquaculture and tourism.
Tong and the deputy mayor agreed they’d talk in a year. That meeting took place on Wednesday. As a result, there’s a possibility Southland and Shantou could share a sister citytype relationship in 18 months to two years.
Tong said he had met with other Chinese officials to ‘‘hear their views on economic development as well as possible commercial interests with Southland’’.
He was also ‘‘promoting Southland as a destination for historical and cultural links to South China and as a must do outside of just visiting Auckland’’.
Tong said the Chinese officials were interested in the region’s produce – lamb, beef and seafood – but they had no desire to build infrastructure or buy properties there.
‘‘You’ve got to meet this man and sit down and talk with him – he’s incredible,’’ Tong said.
‘‘Mr Zhang is interested in the entire world.
‘‘He’s a very family and business focused man.’’