The largest bank in the world is a state-owned Chinese bank, and that bank is a tenant at Trump Tower. This presents a serious conflict of interest I argued in November, and the Washington Examiner has editorialized repeatedly that Trump needs to divest his real estate holdings.
And if you thought more conflicts wouldn’t arise, you need to check out the newest buyer at Trump Park Avenue.
New York City property records show Trump Park Avenue LLC (which Trump still owns, but no longer manages) in February sold a penthouse condo for $15.9 million to a Chinese businesswoman named Xiao Yan Chen. The property went under contract Dec. 14, and the deal closed Feb. 21.
Who is Xiao Yan Chen? Investigative reporter Russ Choma at Mother Jones has the relevant background info:
Her company bills itself as a “boutique business relationship consultancy” for US firms seeking to do business in China. “For a select clientele,” the firm says that it “facilitates the right strategic relationships with the most prominent public and private decision makers in China.”
“As counselors in consummating the right relationships — quite simply — we provide access,” the company’s website claims. “Establishing a network of credible and proprietary relationships, known by the Chinese as ‘ghanxi,’ is the single most important aspect of initiating and sustaining a successful business venture in China.”
This penthouse is a move up, literally and figuratively for Chen who, property records indicate, already lived in a smaller apartment in the building. Maybe that detail — along with the fact that this appears to be approximately the market price for the condo — clears away the stink here, but probably not.
There’s still this uncomfortable basic fact: A Chinese businesswoman whose business is peddling access just paid the president of the United States nearly $16 million.
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s commentary editor, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
