As reported in a Fox Business exclusive, Hunter Biden emails show that the “first son” was investing in a company run by a Chinese businessman who has established ties to high level officials in the Communist Chinese party of China.
One of the chief emails uncovered by Fox Business is from Eric Schwein, who was an established business partner of Hunter Biden. In his March 2017 email to Hunter, Schwein broke down ownership interests of Hunter’s Rosemont Seneca Advisors investment business. One of the business interests was a five percent stake in Harves Amusement Parks as well as ownership in Harves Sports and Entertainment.
Hunter Biden was introduced to individuals within the Harves Group in 2015. At that time, Francis Person, who was an advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden between 2009 and 2014, was preparing to take a position with the Harves Group. Person has also been described by First Lady Jill Biden as “like a son to Joe and me” and “will always be a part of our family.” Person left the advisory role in January 2015, and within six months he became the president of Harves Group.
Person himself sent an email to Hunter Biden in July 2015 inviting him to meet Person’s Chinese business partner, Bo Zhang and the Zhang family.
Person explained in the email that the Zhang family would host the meeting (of Person and Hunter Biden to the family). Person goes on to give some information on Bo Zhang, such as his education background, and that the Zhang family (particularly Bo’s parents) owned the Harves Century Group. Person went on to say that the Harves Group is a “top tier” Chinese real estate development firm. Person also told Hunter that Bo Zhang’s mother was the chairman of the company, remarking that that situation is unusual in China. Person specifically told Hunter that “they (the Zhang family) are very private, and wouldn’t tell anyone about you coming.” Person finished the email by telling Hunter that Bo Zhang’s father-in-law was the Governor of Hainan “which he doesn’t advertise at all.”
Fox Business found that Harves Century Group is a company that is headquartered in Shenyang, China, just as the emails mentioned. Researchers also found that Harves Century is the parent company of “multiple United States-based Harves affiliate businesses, including the following: Harves Investment Group, Harves Global Entertainment, and Harves Sports. The Harves company website states that its chairman is Jenglan Shao; Person’s email identified her as Bo Zhang’s mother. Further research shows that Ms. Shao’s name appears on the Federal Election Commission’s website as a “maxed-out donor” to Francis Person’s campaign against former Representative Mick Mulvaney in 2016. Person ran unsuccessfully against Mulvaney for a chance to represent South Carolina’s Fifth District at that time. Although records show that Shao was a donor to Person’s campaign (note: he ran as “Fran Person” according to Ballotpedia), it is not definitive as to whether Shao is an American citizen. Both Hunter Biden and his business partner Eric Schwerin each donated $2,700 to Person’s campaign.
Person’s email described Bo Zhang as “being groomed to take of his family’s dynasty.” Person also said that “the trip wasn’t about selling Biden on anything, but more about growing the relationship.” Person’s email said that there would be “big things that come down the road that we can work on.” One should note that Person added that Harves intended to partner with Magic Johnson and LeBron James – both NBA stars at one time or another – to “host an NBA Global Game in China.”
Person traveled with the Bidens a great deal of time traveled to foreign countries, visiting all but one of the fifty countries that Joe Biden traveled to between 2009 and mid-2014. Person’s LinkedIn bio states that Person “helped guide the formation of the Harves Group headquartered in Washington, D.C., serving as the United States affiliate of Harves Century Group.”
Fox Business learned that Hunter Biden did not make the trip to China during the week that Person requested him to do so in the email, but researchers did find that Person and Zhang met with both Biden and Schwerin in Washington on “multiple occasions.” There are also multiple emails back and forth between Zhang, Biden and Schwerin discussing potential Harves-related business deals. One 2016 email written by Hunter Biden referred to Zhang as a “good friend and business colleague.”
One of the most interesting email details is where deceased Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger is “cc’ed” in an email between Biden and others. It appears by the email that Bulger helped Hunter Biden to get a Chinese business license for his uncle’s telemedicine company at some time prior.
Hunter Biden’s business partner, Eric Schwerin, sent an email to Hunter Biden, Francis Person, Bo Zhang, and Tara Greco. Greco is the former director of communications for the union representing players in the NBA. The email was written in 2016, and it was addressed to Zhang. The email stated that Greco had “learned that the Anschutz Entertainment Group had a deal with the NBA to build NBA branded stadiums around China.” The email went on to discuss the building of a stadium in Liaoning and how that could bring more “NBA related content” to Liaoning. There were several questions that Schwerin presented to Zhang, and the email ended with Schwerin saying that the items could be discussed when “they” met the next week.
By November 2020, Harves announced that the company intended to partner with NBA China to “conduct the NBA’s business throughout China and develop NBA-themed entertainment centers.” Bo Zhang was quoted in this press release, stating that the NBA entertainment centers would “further our mission to provide best-in-class global entertainment to local populations.” Some of the NBA-themed entertainment centers are opening in 2022, and with one to be located in Suzhou. Zhang said in the press release “we hope to grow it into a landmark project in the sports industry.”
Fox Business stated that they had reached out to both Person and Zhang requesting a comment on the relationship between Harves and the Chinese government, among other questions. However, as of this writing, there has been no reply.
Fox Business also found that Zhang’s father-in-law, Liu Cigui, was indeed the governor of Hainan (otherwise known as Chinese Hawaii) around 2015 (when the emails were written) and that Cigui is considered to be a “Xi loyalist.”
