NYT: Inquiry Highlights McAuliffe's Ties to Chinese Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/25/us/politics/terry-mcauliffe-wang-wenliang.html?_r=1

from the link:


But the federal inquiry throws a cloud over Mr. McAuliffe at a critical time: He is a top fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, a close confidant of her and her husband, and the governor of a swing state critical to her chances of becoming president. On Sunday, Mr. McAuliffe headlined a $5,000-a-head Virginia fund-raising event for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Mr. McAuliffe and Mr. Wang are, in a sense, mirror images: wealthy self-made men with intertwined careers in business and politics. Before becoming governor, Mr. McAuliffe was an inveterate deal-maker involved in everything from real estate to banking to electric cars. Last year, a separate federal review found that Mr. McAuliffe had lobbied officials at the Department of Homeland Security to speed visas for Chinese investors in an electric car company.

Photo

Wang Wenliang, a Chinese businessman whose companies are linked to Mr. McAuliffe. Credit Imaginechina, via Associated Press
The review said department officials had created a perception of “special consideration” for Mr. McAuliffe and other prominent Democrats, but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Mr. Wang is a delegate to China’s legislative house, the National People’s Congress. His companies run ports, import agricultural products and construct Chinese embassies around the world. His extensive business empire is based in Dandong, a port city that borders North Korea.

After starting his career as a municipal adviser to the Dandong government on planning and economics issues, he amassed a fortune, partly by securing construction contracts to work on Chinese embassies and consular offices around the globe, including the Chinese Embassy in Washington.