And there was a white glove named Desmond Shum who eventually fled China, and he later described his experience as having been like one of the tiny fish that cleans the teeth of a crocodile. And what it means, in effect, is that you figure out ways that can help them profit or help them get an investment and a lucrative deal. It's become known as being a white glove because you help the officials keep their hands clean. And there is a realm of people in China who have built close relationships with government officials. This is an interesting feature of Chinese life over the last generation. What - he became what's called a white glove. He has made a lot of statements and videos and legal pronouncements over the years, and they tell his story, as he sees it.ĭAVIES: So he gets involved in business and works for a wealthy woman who had a company, got involved in construction projects and then gets involved in, you know, the intersection of private entrepreneurs and government officials. He declined to talk to us for this article. But he's left a long trail of documentation and other material, right? And I guess we should note, when we talk about what Guo says, that's not to you directly, right? He never granted you a interview.ĭAVIES: Right. He's quite clear about that, as he says that the people that he met in jail were some of the people that launched the whole world that eventually opened up to him.ĭAVIES: Right. But that really was a turning point in his life. And Guo has said that those charges had been falsified. It describes the offenses as having been a local oil scheme - basically, bilking local oil buyers out of a few thousand dollars. And - but the verdict in his case doesn't mention any political activism. OSNOS: Well, he tells a story that is a heroic narrative in which he says that he was inspired by the students at Tiananmen Square far away in Beijing and that he sold his motorcycle and sent them money and that, for that, he was arrested. He was jailed in 1989, which was the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, I think, right? And before long, he ended up in jail.ĭAVIES: Right. She said he ran with a group that was fighting and gambling and chasing girls. And a teacher who was interviewed by Chinese reporters later remembered him as having been, as she put it, less often in class than he was out of it. He dropped out of school at the age of 13, and he started selling things, like clothes and electronics. And he was born, really, with the gift of gab, as it's known in Chinese. And he was one of eight children, without much of anything. He grew up in a village called Xicaoying out in a rural stretch of Shandong Province. But let's begin with his origins in China - humble background, right? Where did he grow up? Glad to be with you.ĭAVIES: This is such an odd story, and it gets really interesting when this character, Guo Wengui, gets mixed up with the Trump folks. He spent eight years reporting in China and is the author of the book "Age Of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, And Faith In The New China." Osnos' new article in The New Yorker is titled "How A Tycoon Linked To Chinese Intelligence Became A Darling Of Trump Republicans."ĮVAN OSNOS: Thanks, Dave. Evan Osnos has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008. Osnos' article examines Guo's strange career, how he made his way into Trump's inner circle and what it says about American politics in the Trump era and our changing relationship with China. Our guest, New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos, has a new article about the curious journey of this business tycoon, who fled China in 2015 after a mutually beneficial relationship with a Chinese intelligence official got him into trouble. Bannon's embrace of the project was likely fueled by Guo Wengui's generous financial backing of Bannon and Trump supporters' efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The news conference ended with Guo enthusiastically chanting a slogan condemning the Chinese Communist Party and planting a kiss on Bannon's cheek. Bannon and Guo Wengui announced the formation of an alternative government for the people of China, called the New Federal State of China. In June of 2020, conservative broadcaster and Donald Trump acolyte Steve Bannon stood on a boat in New York Harbor with a wealthy Chinese businessman for an unusual livestreamed news conference.
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