According to US prosecutors, a Chinese couple plotted to establish a mini-state on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, bribing MPs and officials along the way.
The couple attempted to persuade lawmakers to establish
a "Semi-Autonomous Region" (SAR) on a remote atoll.
A zone like this would have increased foreign access to
the Pacific nation, which was governed by the US until 1979.
Despite calls from opposition parties, the Marshall
Islands government has yet to fully address the accusations.
However, US authorities claim that the defendants, Cary
Yan and Gina Zhou, harmed the island nation's sovereignty.
According to US prosecutors, their efforts resulted in
bills supporting the creation of the SAR being debated in the Marshall Islands'
parliament in 2018 and 2020.
Prosecutors allege that several unidentified Marshall Island lawmakers voted for the bills after receiving bribes ranging from US$7,000 to $22,000 (£6,100 to £19,000).
The pair were apprehended in Thailand in 2020 and
extradited to the United States last week.
In the words of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, "Yan and Zhou's bribery flagrantly violated the sovereignty of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and its legislature."
After four decades of US administration, the Marshall Islands, a chain of islands located between Hawaii and Australia, gained independence in 1979.
Map
It remains a critical strategic base for Washington in
the Pacific, where the United States has some security alliances but China is
seeking to expand its influence.
What happened in the alleged plot?
Prosecutors claim the Chinese couple used a New
York-based NGO to pay and communicate with Marshall Islands officials.
They began contacting island representatives in 2016 in
an attempt to establish a SAR on the Rongelap atoll, which had been abandoned
following US hydrogen bomb testing in the 1950s.
According to US authorities, Mr. Yan and Ms. Zhao hoped to
attract foreign investment by "significantly changing the laws on the
island," such as by lowering taxes and relaxing immigration restrictions.
They claim the pair wined and dined at least six
Marshall Island officials and legislators, paying for flights and hotels in
both New York and Hong Kong, where the officials attended a conference
promoting the SAR.
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Mr. Yan was appointed as a special adviser to the
Marshall Islands by one official who accepted the money. The pair also became
naturalized Marshall Island citizens.
According to US prosecutors, bribed lawmakers introduced a bill in parliament in 2018 in support of the proposed SAR.
"The defendants offered and provided a series of
bribes and other incentives to obtain legislators' support for the bill,"
according to the US Justice Department indictment sheet.
The bill, however, failed to pass in parliament due to
strong opposition from the island's then-president, Hilda Heine. Ms. Heine had
accused opponents at the time of working for China and attempting to secure the
atoll in order to turn it into a "country within a country."
But Ms. Heine lost the 2019 general election. In 2020, a
new parliament passed a resolution endorsing the concept of the SAR, paving the
way for a new bill to establish it.
However, Mr. Yan and Ms. Zhao were detained in Thailand
later that year. They have been charged in the United States with foreign
corruption, money laundering, and bribery.
Ms. Heine, the former president, joined those calling for
the Marshall Islands government to address the issue on Monday.
According to local media, she asked, "What are the
Nitijela [parliament] and the government going to do about this big black eye
for the Marshall Islands?"
