DANNY LEE DANNY.LEE@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 23 September, 2015, 12:12pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 September, 2015, 3:20pm
Wilson was approached by former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to engage what turned out to be a fictitious Chinese company. Photo: Sam Tsang
Caroline Wilson, Britain’s top envoy to Hong Kong, has been mentioned in a ‘cash-for-access’ investigation in the UK.
Two former foreign secretaries, Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind, offered to use their influence to help a fictitious Chinese company, fronted by undercover journalists.
In a hidden camera recording, Straw stated his rate for “doing a speech or something” was the equivalent of nearly HK$60,000 a day.
The two senior politicians were the subjects of a media investigation over cash offered to politicians in exchange for access to the country’s lawmakers. A parliamentary ethics commissioner recently cleared them of wrongdoing.
According to the investigation, conducted over the past year, consul general Wilson was approached by Straw to conduct due diligence on what turned out to be a fictitious Chinese company.
Wilson had served as a private secretary to Straw in Britain’s Foreign Office earlier in her career, and the two reportedly remain close friends.
She offered to host the fictitious company’s managing director in a reception at the UK mission in Hong Kong to help “size him up.”
A Foreign Office spokesman told the The Daily Telegraph, which took part in the undercover story, that it engaged with a wide range of British businesses to further UK trade and that these efforts included “responding to commercial enquiries”, “offering general advice” and attending events.
Wilson has been contacted for comment.
The duping will be considered embarrassing for the high-profile Hong Kong-based diplomat.
READ MORE: Hong Kong duplex in Opus project sells for HK$497 million in Asia record for flats
Not one to shy away from headlines, Wilson raised eyebrows last week with a cheeky Twitter picture taken from a skyscraper overlooking Government House, where the city’s chief executive resides, noting the view was “transcending” it. Days earlier, Zhang Xiaoming, director of the central government’s liaison office here, said Leung Chun-ying enjoyed a “transcendent” position over the legislature and judiciary.
Wilson is familiar with panoramic views of Hong Kong. Her residence at the Opus, a luxury residential high-rise that opened in 2012, overlooks Victoria Harbour. She began her tenure in 2012, and critics claimed her taking a flat in the Opus in 2013 as the UK government faced budget cuts was excessive. At the time, a flat in the complex was sold for HK$455 million and another was rented for HK$850,000.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1860678/british-envoy-hong-kong-duped-fictitious-chinese-firm-cash
