2016华社政坛看点：自由党捐款晚宴

2016年是一个动荡，悲剧频现并具有历史意义的一年。除了欧洲发生的震惊全球的恐怖袭击，川普令人震惊地赢得美国总统大选也在国际年鉴中留下了浓重的一笔。特鲁多总理8月访华标志着中加关系出现转折，而自由党的花钱见政要集资行为则引发广泛争议，并使那些盯准加国华裔富豪的集资晚宴成为公众关注之要点。

 

2016 is a tumultuous, tragic and historic year. Apart from the terrorist attacks in Europe that sent shockwaves throughout the world, the announcement of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election was also a surreal and jaw-dropping moment captured in the international yearbook. Trudeau’s visit to China in Aug. marked the turning point in the Sino-Canada relations, while the Liberals’ cash-for-access practices were caught in a deep controversy, putting well-heeled Chinese Canadian lobbyists in the spotlight.

今年5月，在Benson Wong豪宅中举办的集资晚宴，特鲁多总理作为明星嘉宾而亮相登场。但随着多名中国重量级政治人物在晚宴上频频现身，中国专制政府日益增长的影响力也随之蔓延至加国政坛。出席此次晚宴的嘉宾之一张斌不仅是中国政府的政治顾问，同时也是积极拓展中国影响力的中坚力量。而以中加两国国旗为背景而与特鲁多总理合影的刘萌也是中国的政治大腕，他曾因致力于“寻找未来商业合作的海外代表……以进行对外投资和挺进全球市场”而受到中国官方媒体的盛赞。

In May, a fundraiser was held in Benson Wong’s home, with PM Trudeau as the star attraction. With several Chinese political heavy weights attending the event, the fundraiser has left the Canadian political landscape susceptible to the growing influence of an authoritarian government. One of the attendees was Zhang Bin, a political adviser to the Chinese government and a force to spread China’s influence. Liu Meng, whose presence at the event was evidenced by a photo taken with the PM -- with Chinese and Canadian flags in the background. Liu was also a political influential figure in China who was a recipient of praise by China’s state media for “seeking out overseas delegates for future business co-operation … and to invest abroad and expand into the global market.” 

尽管自由党一再声称在集资活动中从未讨论过政府事宜，但这种说法似乎与今年11月在卑诗省举办的集资晚宴的主办人的说辞相矛盾。温哥华房地产开发商、来自中国浙江省的拥有数百万家产的潘妙飞在接受《环球邮报》采访时称，在品尝鱼汤和浙江特色美食之余，他还与特鲁多总理在集资晚宴上商讨了从允许中国企业投资加国养老服务业到为中国投资移民加国大开绿灯等多项政府事宜。

Despite the Liberals’ repeated claims that no government business was ever discussed at the event, the statements from a host of a fundraiser held in B.C. seems to be contrary to such claims. Pan Miaofei, a multi-millionaire from Zhejiang China and a real estate developer in Vancouver, told the Globe in an interview that a variety of government issues were discussed with the PM while they enjoyed Zhejiang delicacies at the fundraiser, from allowing Chinese investment in Canada’s senior care to easing the immigration path for Chinese investors to Canada.

这些花钱见政要集资晚宴似乎亦违背了自由党制定的道德准则，并引起加国操守专员的质疑。旨在吸引加国华人存款的联邦一级银行，加拿大第一财富银行获得联邦政府批准而得以运营，使该银行成为媒体关注焦点并引发了一系列质疑:该行是否因与特鲁多总理在集资晚宴上接触而得到特殊关注？《环邮》调查同时发现，该行董事兼主要投资者欧阳元森曾在第一财富银行的网站简历中谎称为中国人大代表，且该行的一名前支持者多年来在中国一直面临未经证实的欺诈指控。

The cash-for-access events also appear to breach the Liberals’ ethical guidelines and has raised the brows of Canada’s Ethics Commissioner. The final go-ahead obtained by Wealth One Bank, a Schedule 1 Bank in Canada targeting deposits from Chinese Canadians, have also put the bank under media scrutiny, raising questions of whether the bank received preferential treatment resulting from its interactions with the PM. The Globe investigation discovered that Yuansheng Ou Yang, a director and key investor of the bank, misrepresented his biography on the Wealth One website by claiming he had served as a member of China’s National People’s Congress, and that one of the bank’s former backers was plagued for years by unproven accusations of fraud in his home country. 

中国大量的外流资本对于亟需提振加国疲弱经济的加国政府来说可谓是雪中送炭，而中国财大气粗的亿万富翁对渴望积累选战资金的自由党亦极具吸引力。同时，对于渴望与加国领导人见面的华裔人士看来，与特鲁多共进晚餐似乎是一个可以带来巨大荣耀的“绝好机会”。在特鲁多和自由党想方设法从中国获取商业利益，并千方百计追捧中国富豪之时，提供与政要见面之良机的集资晚宴也变成了明码标价的商品，且使其沦为牟利工具。自由党今年5月的这场集资晚宴就被控向获邀者索取约$5000元的门票费，该金额远远超过了《加拿大选举法》规定的$1525元捐款上限。这一现象不禁提出这些高价捐款去往何处，谁是受益人等质疑，并导致了对高额所款进行彻查的呼声浪潮。

The massive capital outflow from China has catered for the Canadian government’s needs of battling a sluggish economy, and China’s billionaires’ deep pockets have appealed to the Liberals’ desire for filling its war chest. But for Chinese Canadians who are eager to have face time with a national leader, having a meal in close proximity to Trudeau seems to be a “golden opportunity” and a great honour.  As Trudeau and the Liberals went to great lengths to seize commercial interest in China and to court the wealthy Chinese, the access to power has been turned into a commodity and may have been exploited for lucrative profits. The fundraiser in May allegedly charged a ticket price of around $5000, much higher than the $1525 limit by the Election Act, prompting calls for investigations and raising concerns over where the money went and who may have been the beneficiaries. 

随着中国经济放缓，股市大幅波动和人民币贬值令越来越多老百姓丧失信心，预期在2017年中国资本外流还会继续加剧。如果特鲁多及其领导的自由党对反对党和公众的呼声置若罔闻，仍然继续从事花钱见政要集资行为，那么在新的一年里将会爆出的更多的，不仅会损害自由党的声誉，也势必会令华裔社区陷入更多争议的丑闻。

Amid the economic slowdown, equity market’s volatility and the currency devaluation, Chinese capital outflow is expected to continue in 2017. If Trudeau and his Liberals won’t stop cash-for-access practices urged by the opposition parties and the public, more scandals will emerge in the new year that would not only wreak havoc with the Liberals’ reputation, but also draw more criticism to the Chinese community.