IS CHINA USING BOGUS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST ST KITTS CBI PASSPORT HOLDER TO INFLUENCE CHANGE OF NATIONAL RECOGNITION ?

Domestic tranquility in St Kitts & Nevis is under siege, as Opposition leaders have charged the current government with preventing an alleged financial criminal from being extradited to China, where he is wanted in connection with $100m fraud. Ren Biao, a Chinese national who holds a St Kitts passport, is being sought by the PRC, on multiple counts, all revolving around obtaining large loans, from financial institutions, through fraud.

A closer look, however, reveals that the case may be political in nature, due to the close relationships that Ren had with a number of prominent businessmen, and government figures, who were involved, directly or indirectly, in corruption, and some of whom have been arrested, by Chinese authorities.  The country's complex anti-corruption campaign has resulted in serious criminal charges filed against wealthy businessmen whose only crime was their alliance with governmental figures who have fallen from political favor, or who accepted bribes or kickbacks. Ren may, to be honest, be a minor offender, but was his criminal stature inflated, to give China a legal sword, to attack St Kitts with ?

There is also another issue; if Ren is a casualty of China's political infighting, he may have been made into a useful tool, through which the PRC intimidates SKN sufficiently to attain recognition, in the place of the Republic of China - Taiwan. Given China's expansionist policies, towards obtaining recognition throughout the East Caribbean, it is logical that the fact that Ren has a St Kitts passport, and was living there, after fleeing China, made him a prime subject for Chinese manipulation.

One more item: Kittitians are further inflamed by the news, curiously reported by China, that Ren asked for $190,000, from a third party, to allow him to continue to maintain refuge in St Kitts ? Was this an untrue statement, meant to further pressure St Kitts ? We cannot says, but the case requires a full, and fair, investigation, to determine what the truth really is.