Vigilance needed on foreign influence efforts — Robertson
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has warned the country must remain vigilant about potential foreign influence efforts ahead of the general election in September, on the heels of allegations of secret donations to opposition politicians by businessmen with links to the Chinese Communist party.
Grant Robertson told the Financial Times that reforms to laws governing donations were a positive step. However, when asked about the scandal involving the alleged secret donations to the opposition National Party, he said political parties must “stand or fall” on their own conduct.
“Donations are clearly an element of this and we are keen to see how exactly that plays out because donations laws have only recently been changed,” he said.
“No country can say they are going to be immune from that . . . obviously those concerns that I say everybody has around the world, around the potential for interference, still exist and we all have to be vigilant about that.”
New Zealand, which ranked as the least corrupt nation in the world in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, passed laws in December banning all donations by foreigners above $50.
The country has been criticised in the past for its handling of allegations of foreign interference by organisations and individuals with links to the Chinese Communist party.
Analysts have suggested that New Zealand’s participation in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network — which includes the US, the UK, Canada and Australia — should be reconsidered as a result.
In recent weeks, there have been reports of alleged secret donations to the National Party and New Zealand First, a coalition partner in the Government of Jacinda Ardern.
New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office has filed criminal charges against four men: Jami-Lee Ross, a former National Party MP; Yikun Zhang, a Chinese businessman who is alleged to have close links to the Chinese Communist party, and two other Chinese businessmen: Shijia (Colin) Zheng and Hengjia (Joe) Zheng. All of the individuals are New Zealand citizens.
The SFO alleges the men engaged in deception by splitting two donations of $100,000 into sums of less than $15,000 to avoid disclosure as required under electoral law. The four men are due to appear in court tomorrow and deny the charges.
The three Chinese businessmen released a statement saying they have been caught up in “political mudslinging” between Ross and National Party leader Simon Bridges. Ross has said he will fight the charges. Zhang’s legal counsel said in a statement to the FT: “Mr Zhang is a proud New
Zealander and philanthropist who has supported numerous community groups over many years through fundraising activities and donations.”
Zhang’s representative did not comment on claims that he had maintained close links to the CCP.
Ross, who is now an independent MP, alleges Bridges told him to break up the donation into smaller sums to avoid the party having to declare it publicly. Bridges has categorically denied the allegation, according to court documents outlining the charges.