Businesswoman Who Bought Trump Penthouse Is Connected to Chinese Intelligence Front Group

[Miles Archer]

Businesswoman Who Bought Trump Penthouse Is Connected to Chinese Intelligence Front Group

The president's company won't explain this $15.8 million deal.

ANDY KROLL AND RUSS CHOMAMAR. 15, 2017 10:25 AM



http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/exclusive-trump-penthouse-buyer-has-ties-group-chinese-military-intelligence

When a Chinese American businesswoman who sells access to powerful people recently purchased a $15.8 million penthouse in a building owned by President Donald Trump, the deal raised a key question. Was this a straightforward real estate transaction, or was this an effort to win favor with the new administration? The woman, Angela Chen, refused to discuss the purchase with the media. The White House and the Trump Organization would not comment on it. Further investigation by Mother Jones has unearthed a new element to the story: Chen has ties to important members of the Chinese ruling elite and to an organization considered a front group for Chinese military intelligence.

Chen, who also goes by the names Xiao Yan Chen and Chen Yu, purchased the four-bedroom condo in the Trump Park Avenue building in New York City on February 21. As Mother Jones first reported, Chen runs a business consulting firm, Global Alliance Associates, which specializes in linking US businesses seeking deals in China with the country's top power brokers. "As counselors in consummating the right relationships—quite simply—we provide access," Chen's firm boasts on its website. But Chen has another job: She chairs the US arm of a nonprofit called the China Arts Foundation, which was founded in 2006 and has links with Chinese elites and the country's military intelligence service.

The China Arts Foundation was created by Deng Rong, the youngest daughter of Deng Xiaoping, the iconic revolutionary figure and Chinese leader. Deng Rong is what's known in China as a princeling—a term used for the sons and daughters of former high-ranking officials or officers in the Chinese Communist Party who now hold significant sway in business and political circles. Since 1990, Deng has also served as a vice president of the China Association for International Friendly Contacts, which is an affiliate of the intelligence and foreign propaganda division of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). China experts say CAIFC exists to cultivate relationships with former leaders and retired military officials and diplomats of various countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, in order to influence foreign defense policies toward China and the Far East.

To sum up: An influence-peddler who works with a princeling tied to Chinese military intelligence placed $15.8 million in the pockets of the president of the United States.

[dalton99a]

1. Another fine example of America First.

[Botany]

2. But what about Hillary's emails?

Chinese firm invests $400 million in building owned by Jared Kushner's family

A deal with Chinese company Anbang Insurance Group has brought in $400 million dollars for the family of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The $4 billion deal for a New York City office building located at 666 Fifth Ave. includes the large cash payout to the Kushner's real estate company Kushner Companies.

Some real estate experts consider the terms of the deal's agreement unusually favorable for the Kushners, according to the Bloomberg report. The Manhattan tower has struggled financially and the family's company retains an equity stake in the partnership. A mortgage owed by the Kushners will also be reduced to a fifth of the current amount, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/13/chinese-firm-invests-400-million-in-building-owned-by-kushner-family.html