Part 1 of 2

(updated)

The Antigua Labor Party (ALP)  Government's Egotistic Billionaires 

By Kwame Nkosi Romeo

A telling composition written in 2014, 'In billionaire, we trust' following prime minister Gaston Browne, Antigua Labor Party's (ALP) resounding victory over the United Progressive Party (UPP) on March 23, 2014, underscores the lies told to score political points while deceiving the nation of Chinese investor Yida Zhang's billion-dollar investment in Antigua and Barbuda's economy.

Now Zhang vanished like Houdini, following the UK Privy Council ruling on Yida's failure to pay a US$3 million commission on a US$60 million land deal to an Antigua real estate company, Luxury Locations, which was the final red flag. Privy Council rules against Chinese investor Yida Zhang - Our Today

Yet no investigation followed Yida's departure, as with billionaire Xiao Jianhua, who held 25% of WIOC and was granted 200 Antigua and Barbuda passports, is now jailed in China for 13 years and fined US$8.1 billion because Jianhua "hurt state financial security."

Who are the Government ministers, banks, or agencies accumulating wealth from Jianhua and Zhang's assets?

All Opposition MPs must insist on transparency and accountability for these related investment crimes, particularly from the ALP and the People's Republic of China (PROC) government! A high-powered UPP delegation should arrange a meeting with the PROC Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, Zhang Yanling, and follow up with PROC President Xi Jinping.

Also, is it true that Zhang's new identity is concealed due to the purchase of citizenship through the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP)? 

Speculation about this deal points to a sizeable parcel of land being handed over to an unscrupulous administration.

In Billionaires We Trust

"The reality is hardly any investor is properly vetted before negotiations with a government, and once a deal is made, there are seldom any provisions put in place to ensure performance and adherence to commitments made by the investor during the negotiations."

 

R. Allen Stanford - Addressing members of the St Lucia Chamber of Commerce at the Royal St Lucian hotel in Gros Islet in July 2003. (ISSUE NO.79 July 2003)

 

Shortly after the Antigua & Barbuda general election on June 12, 2014, the Antigua Labor Party's newly elected Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, and Chairman of the YIDA Investment Group, Yida Zhang, signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 13, 2014. The MOU relates to the proposed undertaking of a US$2 billion, 1,517-acre tourism mega-resort, including Guiana Island, Crump and Rabbit Islands, and the Crump Peninsula. The proceedings of the ALP's victory offer dubious insight into the individual actions of PM Browne and the beginning of Antigua & Barbuda's Corporate Governance culture, which undermines political equality.

Indeed, this unchecked corporate culture will ultimately result in severe political missteps. What is Corporate Governance?  Corporate Governance is concerned with balancing economic and social goals, as well as individual and communal goals. The corporate governance framework is there to encourage the efficient use of resources and equally to require accountability for the stewardship of those resources" (Sir Adrian Cadbury in 'Global Corporate Governance Forum,' World Bank, 2000 - CorpGov.net)

 

Be that as it may, and unfortunately, the election mandate gave the ALP an unlimited scope of power, one central concern most likely to undermine government responsibility and accountability. This power exposes policy errors and government deficiency dating back to Dato Tan and R. Allen Stanford's Guiana Island nonperformance. These economic blunders contain some critical political and economic lessons of election-related commitments. Perhaps due to ALP's prior history of mistrust, the former United Progressive Party government ensured greater due diligence, carefully examining the tourism development risks posed by Yida Zhang. Let's hope this development is different and that we review all the facts and evidence, particularly concerning the MOU. The Economist highlights perceptions of US concerns and environmental sustainability, especially in the absence of national, media, and parliamentary debates. Amid growing public skepticism about the Yida Investment Group, politicians remain unconcerned. Given this deeply ingrained distrust, numerous people ask: Who is the principal of YIDA Investment Group?

 

The Chairman of the Yida Investment Group is Yida Zhang, a Beijing-based investment group that operates multiple businesses, from real estate to mining. The Group's International Investment Global Partners Conference, held in Beijing, China, on January 12, 2014, marked the official formation of Yida International Investment Group. This Conference Partners' team comprises subsidiaries in 13 countries, including Antigua & Barbuda. Previously, YIDA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT GROUP LIMITED, incorporated in Hong Kong on November 18, 2006, was dissolved on December 02, 2011. 

Supposedly, the company was again incorporated within the same month of dissolution. Yida Zhang is also the director of Yida International Investment Antigua Ltd. Yida Investment's website noted that the aforementioned "Yida International Investment Group ("Yida Group") was founded in 2011. The beautiful Qinglong Lake in western Beijing is located. Yida Zhang's cultural tourism marketing is linked to the 1,517-acre land acquisition and the proposed sale of the Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP). Those assets could then be used to achieve the desired capital outcome, contributing to the projected equestrian and polo club in Beijing, China. Was Prime Minister Gaston Browne too quick to publicize the Group's US$2 billion Guiana Island tourism mega project? Yida Zhang recently signed an agreement with Neil Hobday, CEO of Guards Polo Club, to develop a world-class equestrian polo club and resort in Beijing, China. The idea is to replicate the grandeur of the United Kingdom Guards Polo Club concept of service, style, elegance, and standards to potential polo club clients worldwide. (China Day at Guards Yida International Investment Group unveils plans for an impressive resort in Beijing June 19, 2014)

After over a year, the deliberations at the Beijing Equestrian Polo Club remain fruitless. However, a recent offer extended to the Guards Polo Club has generated much-needed publicity. Yida Zhang intends to capitalize on the significant volume of air passengers and growth experienced in the People's Republic of China. According to the Beijing Tourism Development Commission, "Beijing received more than 252 million visits last year, a year-on-year increase of 9 percent, according to the city's tourism authority. Total income generated by the tourism industry in the city in 2013 exceeded 396.3 billion yuan ($63.44 billion), a 9.3 percent increase on the previous year."

 

Five Chinese cities included on the HURUN GLOBAL RICH LIST 2014 account for 53.631% of China's 358 billionaires and China's 43.447% of Asia's 824 billionaires. Beijing, with 57 billionaires, ranks fourth among nineteen global cities where billionaires reside. The world city ranking includes five Chinese cities in the top twenty: No. (3) Hong Kong 65, (4) Beijing 57, (9) Shenzhen 27, (15) Shanghai 24, and (18) Hangzhou 19. Also, the Hurun Wealth Report on Chinese Millionaires 2013 documents similar trends in three major Chinese cities: Beijing remains in first place, with an increase of 5,000 to 184,000 millionaires and an addition of 200 to 10,700 super-rich. Guangdong ranks second with 172,000 millionaires and 9,600 super-rich. Shanghai follows with 147,000 millionaires and 8,500 super-rich. Beijing's 184,000 millionaires accounted for 14.3772% of China's 1,279,800 millionaires in 2013, and Beijing's 57 billionaires accounted for 15.927% of China's 358 billionaires. China's millionaires increased by 7.9% in 2014, to 1,380,904. (WEALTHINSIGHT)

 

In this context, it is easier to imagine Yida Zhang building a mega-tourist resort elsewhere if he has endless resources. Another source of income is the Antigua & Barbuda CIP. 

Is there a plan to coronate Yida Zhang as Antigua & Barbuda's Ambassador to Asia? 

Remember in 1989, Leader Emeritus Lester Bird appointed Bill Cheung, Antigua & Barbuda consul, to Hong Kong? In this era, capital is much needed to realize certain investments. 

For example, selling 500 passports at US$500,000 can generate as much as US$250 million. Adversely, a member of the merchant class is already tipped to be Antigua & Barbuda's Ambassador to China.

 

Before June 12, 2014, tensions were high, and many voices opposed the UPP CIP, but today, the same belligerent people sit muzzled and tongue-tied. 

Why? 

Everyone should stand up against the CIP, eschew partisan politics, and realize a shared commitment to STOP THE CIP. Antigua & Barbuda will not be able to endure the global scrutiny of CIP; undoubtedly, PM Browne will continue the same CIP agenda. At this time, the main focus of the ALP is to sell CIP to Asian business people and others willing to buy! Asia has seemingly unlimited financial resources since it leads all continents in billionaires: Asia 824, North America 528, Europe 372, South America 81, Africa 33, and Oceania 31.

 

HSBC Global Connections article: What affluent Chinese investors want more of - Jared Mitchell, Global Report declared, "In 2011, the Bank of China issued the Private Banking White Paper`, which found that 60% of 960,000 Chinese with assets of more than US$1.6 million were either thinking about emigrating or were in the process of doing so. The favored destinations for wealthy Chinese and their money are the United States, Australia, and, most of all, Canada. The three nations attract 80% of the total Chinese émigrés."

 

One of several highly pertinent Questions to ALP Ministers of Government posed by Algernon' Serpent' Watt on Observer Radio Saturday, July 05, 2014: Is it a fact that all CIP out of Asia has to be handled by the Yida Group, and who are the principals of Yida Investment Antigua Limited?

To be continued.