‘We cannot accept donations that may have been sponsored by a foreign government,’ says charity president
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation will return a controversial $200,000 donation it received seven years ago from a Chinese billionaire with ties to the Chinese Communist Party regime.
Pascal Fournier Chairman of the Trudeau Foundation announced In a March 1 statement, the organization said it “recently learned through the media of a potential connection between the Chinese government and the 2016 pledge of $200,000 the foundation will receive.”
As an independent, nonpartisan charity, Fournier said “ethics and integrity” are among the foundation’s core values.
“We cannot hold donations that may be sponsored by a foreign government and willfully do not. did,” he said.
of earth and mail In 2014, Chinese diplomats directed Zhang Bing, a wealthy businessman with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to donate $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation, according to an unnamed national security source. said in a February 27 report. Beijing will refund him the amount. The donation was allegedly intended to influence Justin Trudeau after he became leader of the Liberal Party.
According to Globe, sources said diplomats and Zhang discussed the upcoming 2015 federal election and the possibility of the Liberals defeating the Conservatives to form a minority government.
Zhang and another Chinese businessman donated $1 million in 2016 to “honor the memory and leadership” of Justin Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, The Globe reported. Of that amount, $200,000 went to the Trudeau Foundation, $50,000 to the construction of Pierre’s statue of Trudeau, and $750,000 to the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Law.
The donation came shortly after Chan attended a Liberal Party fundraising event headlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016.
Zhang and the PMO did not respond to requests for comment from the Epoch Times.