Published 19 May 2017
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 19th 2017 – Top Security officials in St. Kitts and Nevis are now claiming that they cannot locate the Chinese native wanted for fraud in Beijing, after regional counterparts had urged them to have the man interviewed.
CaribUpdate said Friday morning it has seen a note from a top Kittitian official who is claiming that the man might have changed his location since he is apparently not at the address that they had guided Chinese police agents to in April.
The St. Kitts and Nevis security official could not say whether the man was still in St Kitts.
Last week St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris claimed that the passport of Ren Biao was among scores of others that were deactivated because it did not have the county of origin information.
The deactivation had nothing to do with Ren Biao on the Interpol Wanted List.
Though based on the report, he has no documents to travel outside of the Federation. Ren Biao remains a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Team Unity Government of Prime Minister Harris has refused a request to hand him over to Beijing citing the need for due process.
Chinese diplomatic sources say they have not had any further information on whether the change of address would change their demands.
China has accused the Timothy Harris administration of continuing to stall on the issue.
CaribUpdate said it enquired of the Office of Prime Minister Harris in Basseterre to comment on the report, that it intended to publish.
CaribUpdate said Dr. Harris promised an official statement on Thursday, but by the end of the work day it was still not ready.
China said St. Kitts and Nevis, which does not have diplomatic relations with the Peoples republic of China, is fast becoming a haven for criminals by harbouring Ren Biao and accused Prime Minister Harris of being un-cooperative on the issue. Biao, who is on the Interpol list, is wanted in China for defrauding a state-owned company of US$100 million.
China said it intercepted communication on April 16 in which the fugitive, who is in St. Kitts and is an economic citizen, called relatives in Beijing seeking an additional US$190,000 to help to continue pay for his protection by Kittitian authorities.
The Government first denied having formal information on the matter, but regional media outlet, CaribUpdate said its own investigation reveals that the Ren Biao matter was raised via an unnamed Caribbean country with the Timothy Harris-led Administration in January this year.
“There was a direct request made on the issue of Ren Biao in January to (Miss Kay Bass), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Kitts and Nevis from the Permanent Secretary of another Caribbean country,” CaribUpdate said.
The regional media house said this was also followed by direct communications between the Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of St. Kitts and Nevis, Ms. Jacqueline Berry and the same Caribbean country and its counterpart in Basseterre.
CaribUpdate further reported that at the meeting in Basseterre, officials of the Timothy Harris Government and law enforcement officers including members of the High Command were provided with details of the claims of financial impropriety.
The Head of the Financial Service Unit in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Head of the unnamed Caribbean country subsequently met in Basseterre in April this year on the Ren Biao issue.
CaribUpdate also said that Kittitian security officials met with Chinese security officials over the issue in early April this year after they were granted a visa waiver from Basseterre to enter St. Kitts and Nevis.
They were met on arrival at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport by St. Kitts security officials on April 14th and spent a week on the island.
Prime Minister Harris has admitted knowledge of the request to handover Biao, but the questions remain, who in his government has been offering protection to Ren and who is collecting the protection money?
