Lots of talk about building homes for Canadians these days. And lots of talk about Chinese Communist Party infiltration into Canada. Well here’s a story related to homes, and other things not unrelated to Communist Chinese operators. Let’s get right to the gist of this dig into the bankruptcy of a property development purchase and proposal in Vancouver.
Some readers of PTBC may recall another such article I wrote in 2022 exposing the very, very odd purchase of several big shopping malls in British Columbia by an unknown young Chinese woman (a multi-billionaire somehow!) with what seems to me to be Communist Party links. [See Chinese Communist Party–linked woman’s “company” buys another huge mall in Canada] Nobody else seemed the slightest bit concerned. And still don’t. There was also something about which I never wrote: the purchase and then sale of Vancouver’s famous Grouse Mountain (actually just its skiing and tourist facilities operating thereupon) several years ago. Lots of writeups about that, but few mention the ties to Communists in China’s government (one notable exception – see below).
This real estate development in the news today has similarly weird overtones.
Today the Vancouver Sun (bested by the Toronto-centric Globe and Mail (“G&M”), which reported it a week earlier) is on about a property in Vancouver’s West End, purchased back in 2017 for some $172 million. The new owners promised a 55-story tower of condos plus a smaller tower for rentals, daycare space, public space, and all of that good stuff. 500-plus housing units.
No development permit application ever was forwarded, save for renderings of a huge building (see feature photo above) which the City indicated was a non-starter because it would contravene Vancouver’s scenic corridor rules. (I won’t get into it, but suffice it to say the rule dictates that new buildings in Vancouver shouldn’t block too much of the views of the mountains and sea, nor cast too much shadow. This building would do all of that. Don’t ask me to explain.)
Today the property, or more accurately the newly-formed company that bought it (Harlow Holdings Ltd., or Haro-Thurlow Street Project Limited Partnership, or Haro and Thurlow GP Ltd., or whatever else they confusingly called themselves), which was comprised of dozens of individuals and a few “companies,” is bankrupt. They owe $82 million to the bank, and despite the fact they paid $172 million for the property, the property is now assessed at only $98 million.
Only!? The thing is, I suspect it was only worth that much or less when they bought it for $172 million. Prices haven’t gone down since then, only up (if more slowly). But the real estate market was extremely — overly — exuberant back then, and has only recently calmed a tad with those higher interest rates. That, and these “Harlow” folks had to buy-out the existing strata owners — that is, every unit in the existing building plus the commercial space, before they could proceed. So I suspect they offered the strata owners double what they were worth, resulting in an instant cry of “DEAL!” from every owner. This type of dealmaking has happened a fair bit in Vancouver in the last decade or more as property values have skyrocketed and the need for more homes increased (an ongoing problem due to rampant out-of-control immigration).
OK. So. While the G&M boldly discussed the notable owners right near the top, the VanSun waited until the very last paragraphs of their article. I point it out because it’s entirely germane to the story — not an “oh, also, here some other info.”
I’ll bold some names and things that I’ll get to afterward. First, from the G&M:
…The consortium, which was working with local company Intracorp Homes as its development manager, includes Kang Yu Zou, Wei Zou and Xia Yu. Those three individuals were all involved with the equally complex consortium that bought Grouse Mountain Resorts in 2017 and then abruptly sold it in 2020.
Some members of the consortium are also being sued by another participant, Treasure Bay HK Ltd. That lawsuit, initiated in 2021, alleges that Kang Yu Zou got an advance of $25-million from other partners in the group without providing adequate security.
That lawsuit also alleges that Mr. Zou, who is the son-in-law of Wenbiao Dong, chairman of China Minsheng Investment Group Corp., “leveraged family relationships” to obtain the loan. CMIG was also involved in the Grouse Mountain purchase and sale.
The Vancouver Sun was more sheepish as I said, and finally got around to reporting thus at the end of the article:
Some of the other names in the group of owners include Vancouver businesspeople Kang Yu Zou, also known as Kenny Zou, his wife Wei Dong and his parents Wei Zou and Xia Yu, who were also involved in a separate group of investors and companies, including major Shanghai-based China Minsheng Investment Group, which bought Grouse Mountain Resorts in 2017 and then sold it in 2020.
The Globe and Mail first reported there is another lawsuit, dating back to 2021, where one of the owners, Hong Kong-based Treasure Bay HK, alleges that Kang Yu Zou received $25 million from others in the group without providing adequate security. It alleges that Zou, who is married to Wei Dong and is the son-in-law of Wenbiao Dong, the chairman of CMIG, “leveraged family relationships” to get the loan.
Where to begin? How about I list some names and review what is easily searchable on the internet, even by reporters? It harkens to the opening of a giant Chinese Communist rabbit hole, as we will see.
China Minsheng Investment Group
Based in Shanghai, China. The World Economic Forum, which has an entry on their website about this group presumably because this group is an attendee at their annual confab of liberals and progressives and sundry other global-control-obsessed left-wing elitists, says the group was “Initiated by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce….”. Well, what’s that?
All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce
Even Wikipedia is sheepish about it, first blithely calling it a pleasant-sounding “people’s organization,” which if you follow their link, is explained on another page, thus:
People’s organization is a generic term for organizations in the People’s Republic of China excluding governments, the official departments of government, and enterprises or institutions, yet are recognized to be a part of Chinese Communist Party‘s united front.[1][2]
Wikipedia then goes ahead and describes All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce thus (my bolding), negating the need for the earlier lipstick-on-a-pig pleasantry:
…Today, it consists of Chinese industrialists and business people under the leadership of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as well as being a constituent organization of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the holder of a number of seats in the National People’s Congress. The organization assists the government in managing China’s private sector economy and acts as a bridge between the private sector entities and the government.[1][2][3]
Well neither the Vancouver Sun nor the G&M mentioned those ties. Amazing given today’s news about such ties and the fact that our national security, sovereignty, and democracy have been compromised by those very such ties.
In his excellent fact-finding investigative article in The Breaker (theBreaker), veteran reporter Bob Mackin does a superb job explaining the almost inexplicable: the complicated purchase of Vancouver’s famed Grouse Mountain in an article headlined Who Really Owns Grouse Mountain? He didn’t miss the point, in fact leads with it:
The Shanghai investment giant with connections to the Chinese Communist government is downplaying its purchase of Grouse Mountain.
The McLaughlin family asked $200 million for the beloved North Vancouver resort. The Globe and Mail reported July 12 that China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG) made a deal to buy it.
GROUSE SIGN (MACKIN)
A news release timed for July 18 — when NDP Premier John Horgan’s swearing-in dominated British Columbia headlines — said CM (Canada) Asset Management Co. Ltd. is the new owner of GM Resorts LP, and it claims to be 60% Canadian-owned.
Public records obtained by theBreaker show that CM (Canada) Asset Management Co. Ltd. was incorporated Nov. 21, 2016 as 1097351 B.C. Ltd. with Kang Yu Canning Zou as the sole director.
Zou’s address is a $7.6 million-assessed, Shaughnessy [swanky district of Vancouver] mansion near the People’s Republic of China consular compound in South Granville. The property deed was registered in 2009 by businessman Wei Zou and homemaker Xia Yu.
1097351 B.C. Ltd. became CM (Canada) Asset Management Co. Ltd. on March 8, when a second director was added: Liao Feng. According to the CMIG website, Liao is the assistant president of CMIG and CEO of CMIG International. He uses Laurence as his English first name. …
And the article goes on with further detail which puts paid to any quandary remaining about its direct connection to the Chinese Communist Party government. (Just for the record, Grouse Mountain is now back in the hands of Canadians, the Chinese Communist Party-linked group having sold it a mere few years later to a local investor.)
Treasure Bay HK
Virtually nothing can be found about this outfit, except that it seems to be a minority shareholder of another outfit called GM International Holding Limited, both of which seem to be Hong Kong-based companies. I’m guessing the “GM” stands for Grouse Mountain, but can’t find out. As Bob Makin reported: “When China Minsheng’s purchase [of Grouse Mountina] was announced July 18, 2017, it said CM (Canada) Asset Management Co. Ltd. [China Minsheng] bought GM Resorts LP, and claimed to be 60% Canadian-owned.”
As you can see, multiple corporate names involve much the same people. There are other companies in the world called GM International Holding Limited, but don’t seem related, (but who knows?). There were, as described in the Sun and G&M (Globe & Mail!) articles, some internal legal/financial squabbles going on between several of those named in the articles and Treasure Bay, and Harlow Holdings (the name that the multiple-investor group buying the Vancouver residential property gave itself) and Kang Yu Canning Zou, (also known as Kenny Zou, because it helps confuse people!).
Here’s a Supreme Court document explaining a recent lawsuit (with my bolding):
Supreme Court of Canada – SCC Case Information – Summary – 40562 (scc-csc.ca)
… The respondent, Treasure Bay HK Limited, is the only minority shareholder of the respondent, GM International Holding Limited (“GMIH”). Both are Hong Kong companies. Treasure Bay sought to bring a common law derivative action against the applicants, 1115830 B.C. Ltd., 1104227 B.C. Ltd., Harlow Holdings and Kang Yu Canning Zou, also known as Kenny Zou (together the “BC Defendants”). Mr. Zou is a British Columbia resident who owns and controls the corporate applicants which are all British Columbia companies. Mr. Zou is alleged to beneficially own and control the majority shareholder of GMIH, and acts as the de facto director of GMIH. Treasure Bay’s derivative action is based on allegations that Mr. Zou, in breach of his fiduciary duties to GMIH, advanced $30 million to his British Columbia companies without adequate security. The companies defaulted on the loans and despite an alleged request to do so, Mr. Zou prevented GMIH from acting to recover the indebtedness. The loans are governed by British Columbia law, and British Columbia is the non-exclusive forum for actions relating to them. In the derivative action, Treasure Bay seeks damages for the losses suffered by GMIH, as well as an equitable interest in property located in British Columbia and owned by the BC Defendants.
The BC Defendants applied to strike Treasure Bay’s derivative action for failure to disclose a cause of action on the basis that Treasure Bay did not, as was required, first seek leave of the court to initiate the action. The applications judge dismissed the BC Defendants’ application to strike and the Court of Appeal dismissed their subsequent appeal.
Confused? Good. You’re normal. And if your head is spinning with Chinese names and weird company names and strange transactions, it is just what I think is their determined effort to confuse and cover and hide and make it impossible to figure out… and it is working out very well. And obviously, it’s total bullshit that this confusion is allowed, particularly when important landmarks are bought or where huge and controversial property developments are proposed.
And particularly when the Chinese Communist Party and therefore the Chinese government is the beneficial owner or holds a substantial stake or interest, or indeed, control.
It’s somewhat ironic that in the feature picture accompanying this article, you can see in the background what is the now former Trump Hotel tower in Vancouver, which is now not the Trump Hotel tower — in no small part because there was so much anti-Trump fervor in progressive anti-Trump Vancouver amongst the citizenry as well as in the media. Progressives and left-wing nutters protested in front of the building to force a rename and get the Trump name off the building. Even the far-left and progressive politicians in BC weighed in like the sophomoric anti-Trump cheerleaders they figured they needed to be to curry favor and dollars from fellow progressive donors. Wikipedia:
On December 15, 2015, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson [a left-wing mayor nicknamed by sensible people as “Mayor Moonbeam” — ed] wrote a letter to the developers of the tower, asking them to remove Donald Trump’s name from the building. Robertson stated that “Trump’s name and brand have no more place on Vancouver’s skyline than his ignorant ideas have in the modern world.” A petition to remove the name was also mentioned in the letter, with more than 5000 residents voicing their concerns. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark [a liberal — ed] agreed with the movement, stating that “Donald Trump doesn’t represent our city.”
Fortunately, it turns out neither of them represents the city or province now either. It’s apparent to me that neither of them did back then! Not a very warm welcome to developers, builders, investors — something very sorely lacking in Canada today. The Communist Chinese genociders and murderous dictators get a much warmer reception from the liberals and progressives. $
The Trump Hotel tower still exists — just under a new name, owner, and management. It’s now called The Paradox Hotel. The Paradox. Truly a paradoxical monument to Vancouver and British Columbia’s progressive-left ideology.
And yet it went almost unnoticed that almost certainly Chinese Communist Party-linked people are — or were — to create a tower of almost equal size and stature. Until today, not a peep was uttered in that regard about this new tower as far as I know, nor the many others similarly owned. Nor about malls or any other retail or residential infrastructure in Canada. I acknowledge some Canadian mines and critical resource facilities have come under such scrutiny in recent years. The bigger point is that this has and is happening all over the country in every sector, and it needs to be highlighted at every opportunity. (But Trump!)
Canada has been beset with what we now know (and we don’t yet know the half of it) is evidence of Chinese Communist Party infiltration into our federal electoral system, not once, not twice, but three times that we know of, and several other elections at other levels of government. And into many of our institutions including corporate, research, news media, education, and more. I suspect they’re rampant within all levels of our governments. They steal intellectual property, spy, and are perhaps the biggest contributor to the thousands of drug overdose deaths in Canada. And not just a few Chinese immigrants into Canada are under threat. And if you’re honest, you know I could go on for a long time on this, as even Chinese nationals and Canadians of Chinese origin have. And certainly, CSIS and the RCMP have.
- CSIS warns of Chinese recruitment campaign targeting Canadian government employees | CBC News.
- Spy director says Canada ‘blocked’ Chinese acquisitions over espionage concerns – National | Globalnews.ca.
- CSIS reports outline how China targets Canadian politicians, business leaders – The Globe and Mail.
(Ad infinitim.)
So let’s talk about it. Like maybe in the first paragraph.
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