The United States barred Fiji businessman Zhao Fugang and his immediate family, alleging that he paid bribes to advance Chinese interests. His lawyers said they knew of no investigation and would seek clarification. The designation renews scrutiny of a service-centre director previously accused of criminal connections, who has denied those allegations.
The United States barred Fiji-based businessman Zhao Fugang and his immediate family from entering the country. The State Department alleged that he paid bribes to advance China-based government, business and criminal interests. Washington presented its designation as a response to significant corruption, without announcing a corruption conviction.[1], [2]
Zhao’s lawyers told ABC that neither they nor their client knew of such an investigation. They planned to seek clarification from US authorities. Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka said he had not personally received formal notice before journalists contacted him, and would normally expect notification through diplomatic channels.[1]
Zhao directs Fiji’s Chinese Overseas Service Centre, which provides services to Chinese communities abroad. Investigations by Nine and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in 2024 raised allegations of criminal and Chinese Communist Party connections. Zhao strongly denied criminal-group allegations; investigators said he had not been charged and supporting evidence had not been made public.[1]
Fiji’s prime minister said in 2024 that Zhao had rights as a Fijian citizen. China’s embassy defended Chinese community organisations as open and transparent. The new US entry ban comes after that earlier controversy.[1]
