Rowan Callick and Brad Norington, The Australian, March 31, 2009-

THE wealthy Chinese businesswoman who befriended Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and showered him with gifts is a leading member of an organisation with strong ties to the Chinese military.

Helen Liu, who was born in the northeastern Chinese province of Shandong and is now an Australian citizen, is a member of the editorial committee of Shandong Ming Jia.

The organisation, which translates as Shandong Celebrities Family, promotes the work of leading people from Shandong.

It has extensive membership within the China’s military, the Peoples Liberation Army, especially its logistics division.

Ms Liu has attracted enormous attention after allegations reported last week that Mr Fitzgibbon had been the subject of a covert spy operation by officials from his own defence department because of his relationship with her.
According to the claims, departmental officials regarded Ms Liu as a possible security risk.

Ms Liu, who has had many property development interests in China and Australia, is among members of the Shandong Celebrities Family network whose activities are regularly covered by its own colour magazine.

Of the past 10 cover photos, three have featured senior army officers – two men and one woman. Calligraphy, which is a strong feature of the organisation’s website, was written by a former commissar of the PLA’s logistics division.

Shandong is famous as a source of senior soldiers in China.

Ms Liu has also become a prominent representative for the People’s Republic in the vast overseas Chinese world – a role that gives her high status back in China.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who describes Ms Liu as a personal friend, met her during a trip to China with his father, former Labor MP Eric Fitzgibbon, in the early 1990s.

Over the years, Mr Fitzgibbon has introduced Ms Liu to Labor MPs at dinners. She paid for two trips Mr Fitzgibbon made to China in 2002 and 2005, which he failed to declare on his parliamentary statement of pecuniary interests until last week.

He rents a townhouse in Canberra owned by her family and last year she gave him a suit, which he subsequently returned.

Ms Liu’s many roles in public life, which also include past meetings with Kevin Rudd and John Howard, indicate she is a loyal, trusted and active leader with extensive contact within the Chinese party establishment.

She is vice-chairwoman of the World Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations, which states on its website she is the daughter of “an ordinary cadre” or Communist Party member.

This organisation is administratively based in Hong Kong, but is linked to the Overseas Affairs office of the United Front Ministry of the State Council, China’s cabinet. Among its goals are to work towards China’s reunification – meaning the assimilation of Taiwan – and to promote Chinese culture. A spokesman said a few years ago it also sought to “expose and criticise” the Falun Gong movement.

News of Ms Liu’s meetings with provincial and municipal leaders is frequently published in the domestic Chinese media.

When she visited the northwestern region of Xinjiang, she was photographed being received by a former vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress.

She has been praised for donating patriotic education material to schools in areas of China with heavy populations of non-Han Chinese people, such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. She also meets the top Chinese leaders who visit Australia, where she was photographed in 2002 toasting Li Peng, the former premier widely considered responsible for the brutality of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.

A key goal of the association of which she is vice-chairwoman is to represent Chinese interests internationally.

In pursuing this goal, given the growing intensity of Australia’s relationship with China, it was inevitable that she would meet the Prime Minister and Mr Howard.

Ms Liu, whose Chinese name is Haiyan, graduated with a masters degree from one of China’s top universities, Qinghua, in Beijing, before migrating to Australia 25 years ago. She is also a member of the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China, which campaigns for the return of Taiwan to the People’s Republic.

At its anniversary celebrations in Beijing, in 2006, the world federation of which she is vice-chairwoman stressed: “There is only one China in the world.”

The Chinese media have praised her active role in donating money towards less developed regions of China.

Last year, she contributed $6million for victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

Chinese media have reported Ms Liu owns a $140 million property in Hainan Island, and $20 million worth of property, including 55 villas and four office buildings, in Jiujiang city in Jiangxi province.

In Australia, Ms Liu has pursued shopping centre and hotel investments through companies that include Australia China Investments and Diamond Hills Holdings.

In 1997, she fought a Federal Court battle against a fellow company director, Jian Xu, a former boyfriend, who claimed he was entitled to a share of proceeds after property sales.

Ms Liu owns a large residence at exclusive Double Bay, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. She bought the six-bedroom, four bathroom property for $4.7million in 2003.

According to neighbours, she has been away from her Sydney home for the past three months.

- The Australian: Helen Liu has strong links with Chinese army

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