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Palau Palau

WHIPPS RESPONDS TO CONCERNS

OVER CHINESE INTERESTS

By Ongerung Kambes Kesolei/OCCRP Kuok Koi—appear to be operating with the knowledge of the
Chinese state.
Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr has responded to an “From my understanding… they’re all very interconnected,”
investigative report that has revealed activity in Palau by “or- Decherong told OCCRP. “There is no way that Broken Tooth
ganised criminals with links to the Chinese Communist Party”, was going to come to Palau without the communist govern-
by stating that there is nothing worse than a country with a ment knowing about it. And either they are turning a blind
damaged reputation. eye or actually behind the scenes supporting.”
“It’s going to be hard to repair a damaged reputation so it’s OCCRP reporters conducted interviews and examined hun-
our responsibility to protect it,” President Whipps told the dreds of pages of company records and files from law enforce-
Palau media in his year-end press conference. ment investigations to better understand the Chinese push
President Whipps also outlined a number of measures the into Palau. Along with illegal online gambling operations that
government is taking, with international support, to combat prompted arrests and deportations in 2019 and 2020, they
illegal activities. discovered “that this interlinked group of business people has
proposed a series of sometimes improbable projects across
The OCCRP investigation the country since at least 2016. The prospective businesses
In December 2022, the Organized Crime and Corruption have ranged from a blockchain-based insurance scheme to a
Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported that “while Palau’s gov- real-world casino and a special economic zone.”
ernment has remained steadfastly pro-West and pro-Taiwan, OCCRP reports that these plans have so far mostly failed to
a group of business figures has in recent years begun pushing bear fruit, thanks to the scepticism of local law enforcement
Beijing’s interests in Palau. Some have openly proclaimed they and regulators, and pressure from the United States and other
are promoting the CCP’s foreign policy goals, while others Western countries. But they continue nonetheless, aided at
have furthered Chinese influence by setting up new busi- times by members of the local elite who have built close rela-
ness ventures and cultivating close relationships with Palau’s tionships with these business figures.
elite.” Palauan law enforcement detained over 200 mostly Chi-
The OCCRP report quoted Semdiu Decherong, the former nese workers during three raids on suspected online gambling
head of the country’s financial regulator, who said that these operations on New Year’s Eve 2019, and another in mid-2020.
businesspeople and organised crime figures — including a Through brief interviews with some detainees and informants,
senior triad member known as “Broken Tooth” (real name Wan officers managed to gain insight into how the criminal gangs

Johnson Toribiong (sixth from right), Tian Hang (fifth from right), and Ngirai Tmetuchl (far right) at a groundbreaking ceremony for one of Tian’s businesses.

20 Islands Business, January 2023