Dirty Water is Being Thrown at Chen Zhi; is the Real Power Behind the Prince Group Actually the True Prince?

Following conflicts at the Thailand-Cambodia border, a list of suspected partner organisations linked to the Cambodia Institute of Life Sciences has gone viral online. (Screenshot from Google Maps)

[People News] The return of telecom fraud king Chen Zhi to China continues to draw attention. There are rumours suggesting that the actual controller of the Prince Group is Qi Mingzheng, the illegitimate son of Xi Jinping. Caixin, a new media outlet with connections to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, published a lengthy article immediately following Chen Zhi's return, which appears to expose his background. However, the real intention seems to be to shift all the blame onto Chen Zhi, thereby protecting the true forces behind the Prince Group. So, is the big boss behind the Prince Group really 'Prince' Qi Mingzheng?

The day after Chen Zhi was sent back to China, Caixin released a ten-thousand-word article that thoroughly investigated Chen Zhi. In this significant piece, Chen Zhi is depicted as a self-made 'genius of the black industry.' Hu Xiaowei, referred to as 'Uncle,' became a benefactor to this 23-year-old from Fujian. With just a loan of 2 million dollars from Hu Xiaowei, Chen Zhi, lacking any political background, not only received high-level diplomatic treatment in Cambodia but also built a vast telecom fraud empire across more than 30 countries.

Who is Hu Xiaowei? Since 2021, the US and Taiwan have collaborated to uncover that Chen Zhi and Hu Xiaowei established 23 companies in Taiwan for money laundering and fund transfers. Currently, over 300 individuals from gangs such as the Bamboo Union and the Four Seas Gang in Taiwan are implicated and have been apprehended. In addition to Chen Zhi, Hu Xiaowei has made several trips to Taiwan for business oversight and to coordinate matters related to the companies operating there.

According to intelligence from the national security unit of the Republic of China, Hu Xiaowei has considerable connections and a close relationship with the military of the Chinese Communist Party. He previously established private servers in China to illegally run online games, generating illicit profits of up to 6 billion yuan. After his arrest in 2016, he was detained for less than 72 hours before being released, reportedly after paying 10 million yuan, which is suspected to have been ordered by high-ranking officials in Beijing. At that time, the money laundering techniques he used were notably similar to those employed by the Prince Group.

However, in a report by Caixin, this key figure, Hu Xiaowei, who was once the boss of Chen Zhi, was only briefly mentioned. As of now, Hu Xiaowei has not been captured and brought to justice.

Independent commentator Cai Shenkun has revealed that Chen Zhi serves as the public face of the Prince Group, while the real power behind him is Hu Xiaowei. Initially hiding in London, Hu Xiaowei fled to Tokyo, Japan, after both the U.S. and British governments swiftly prosecuted Chen Zhi and froze his assets following the incident.

Reports indicate that before the U.S. Department of Justice took action, Chen Zhi quickly prepared 1 billion dollars in cash for his protection and secured assurances from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son that they would not extradite him to the U.S. or deport him back to China. However, the Chinese Communist Party is concerned that if Cambodia hands over Chen Zhi to the U.S., the Prince Group's telecom fraud operations and other illicit activities could be fully exposed to the international community, potentially implicating the masterminds behind them. This would have severe consequences for both nations, particularly for the CCP, which could face catastrophic repercussions. After weighing the pros and cons under pressure from both China and the U.S., Cambodia ultimately had no choice but to hand over Chen Zhi to the CCP.

So, who are the influential figures behind Chen Zhi, apart from Hu Xiaowei? There are rumours suggesting that Chen Zhi is the illegitimate son of Xi Jinping. It is claimed that Xi Jinping left this offspring during his tenure as an official in Fujian, and the name of Chen Zhi's company, the Prince Group, has fueled speculation. However, this assertion lacks substantial evidence.

Another theory posits that the true controller of the Prince Group is Qi Mingzheng, the son of Xi Jinping's brother, Xi Yuanping. Qi Mingzheng allegedly controls the Prince Group through his wife, Xie Qirun, who is associated with Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group. Furthermore, there are rumours that many executives at the Prince Group were previously employed by the Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand.

Qi Mingzheng, born in 1992, is officially recognised as the son of Xi Yuanping and his ex-wife Hu Tianling. He holds Hong Kong citizenship and graduated from Georgetown University in the United States. There are speculations that Qi Mingzheng is not actually Xi Yuanping's son, but rather Xi Jinping's illegitimate child, who was raised under his brother's name to maintain secrecy, with the surname 'Qi' derived from his grandmother, Qi Xin.

The Charoen Pokphand Group, which has connections to the Xi family, is a prominent multinational corporation founded by Thai-Chinese entrepreneurs. The Xie brothers, Xie Guomin and Xie Zhengmin, are the founders of the Charoen Pokphand Group, and Xie Qirun is the granddaughter of Xie Zhengmin. According to Forbes, the current senior chairman of the Charoen Pokphand Group, Xie Guomin, is the richest person in Thailand, with a net worth of $14.9 billion, ranking 137th on the global billionaire list.

The Charoen Pokphand Group has a significant relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, having been personally received by leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. The group also maintains extensive ties with the financial sector in mainland China, having made substantial investments in China Ping An Insurance and CITIC Limited.

Additionally, Chinese Communist Party state media reported that on December 1, 2015, Wang Qishan, who was then a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, met with a delegation led by Xie Guomin, Chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, at Ziguangge in Zhongnanhai.

Xie Qirun, the granddaughter of Xie Zhengmin, joined the family business after graduating from the Wharton School of Business in 2015. At just 23 years old, she became the Chairwoman and Executive Director of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. Furthermore, both Xie Qirun and her brother Xie Chengrun have returned their nationality to China. After their return, Xie Qirun led China National Pharmaceutical in investing in Sinovac Biotech to support vaccine research and development, and in 2021, she invested 3.5 billion yuan, becoming a shareholder.

Sinovac Biotech has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Xi Jinping's comprehensive zero-COVID policy. It is regarded as “the most crucial glove of the Xi family in the biomedicine sector.” Every vaccine shot administered to the Chinese public and every penny covered by national medical insurance ultimately flows into the pockets of the Xi family through this channel.

Thus, whether Qi Mingzheng is Xi Jinping's illegitimate son or Xi Yuanping's biological son is ultimately irrelevant; in any case, the money ends up in the Xi family's coffers.

Chen Zhi's activities in electricity fraud, money laundering, and the Cambodian Life Sciences Institute, which is seen as a “disguise for extortion,” would not thrive without a protective “paradise umbrella.” Would Chen Zhi still be considered a national-level VIP in Cambodia?

Chen Zhi has amassed a significant fortune, and the scale of cryptocurrency assets held by the Prince Group far exceeds what typical fraud organisations can accumulate, providing evidence of the stronger support behind Chen Zhi.

(First published by People News)
△