US sanctions Fijian businessman over alleged corruption tied with China

The US has slapped sanctions on a high-profile Chinese Fijian businessman accused of being a member of a criminal network with ties to the Chinese government.

In a statement issued this morning, the US State Department said it was designating Zhao Fugang, director of the Overseas Chinese Service Center in Fiji, for his involvement in what it called "significant corruption" on behalf of China-based actors.

Mr Zhao and his immediate family members would be generally ineligible for entry into the United States as a result, it said.

"Zhao abused his public position by paying bribes to Fijian citizens to advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests," said the US statement.

Mr Zhao did not respond directly to the claims, but his lawyers told the ABC they were unaware of the investigation, and that they would write to the US government to seek clarity on the allegations.

His lawyers previously said Mr Zhao vehemently denied any allegations against him, calling them false and misleading.

Fijian Foreign Affairs Minister Sakiasi Ditoka confirmed he had not personally been officially informed of the designation before being contacted by the ABC.

He said the normal process for such an action would be for a formal notice to the government via the Foreign Affairs Minister.

Another senior cabinet minister said this was not the first time such allegations had been made against Mr Zhao and said the last time was two years ago.

In 2024, Nine Entertainment's 60 Minutes and partner newspapers alleged he was both a senior member of a transnational crime syndicate and a prominent member of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which pushes Beijing's interests abroad.

Investigative journalism outfit the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project also alleged that the Fijian national was a senior member of a syndicate involved in drug smuggling, money laundering and human trafficking.

The report said that Mr Zhao had been added to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's registry (ACIC) of Australian Priority Organisation Targets, which includes several criminals who pose a criminal threat to Australia.

The report emphasised that Mr Zhao had never been charged in Australia or elsewhere and that authorities had not publicised any evidence against him.

In 2024, Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told the ABC that he did not know if Mr Zhao worked as an operative for the Chinese government, and that he was entitled to his rights as a Fijian citizen.

In a statement on social media, the US Embassy in Suva said there was "an established trend of criminals operating across the Pacific with ties to China".

"Zhao Fugang's actions have left Fiji vulnerable to malign foreign influence facilitated by Chinese government, business, and criminal actors inside and outside of Fiji," the statement said.

"Corruption stunts opportunities for foreign investment and foreign assistance, facilitates organized crime, offers a permissive environment for malign actors, drives illegal migration, and undermines citizens' faith in government.

"This directly impacts U.S. national security, economic, and foreign policy interests, and those of our partner nations and is why the Department is taking these actions."

In 2024, the Chinese Embassy in Suva said that the work of Chinese diaspora groups in Fiji was "transparent, above-board and beyond reproach" and that Mr Zhao was a Fijian citizen.

"Your suspicion of the relation between Chinese government and Chinese community in Fiji is entirely groundless," it said.