The United States on Wednesday slapped sanctions on Wan Kuok Koi, a leader of China’s 14K Triad organized crime group, and three entities “owned or controlled” by him, the US Treasury said in a statement, reports Reuters.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was targeting Wan, also known as “Broken Tooth,” as part of broader efforts to stamp out corruption across several countries in Asia and Africa, it said.
The statement said Wan was a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a largely ceremonial advisory body - a claim refuted by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
Hua told a daily news conference in Beijing that Wan was not a member of the CPPCC, and that some US personnel are “fabricating lies and taking any opportunity to smear China.”
The comments come as relations between China and the United States have deteriorated rapidly this year.
The United States also blacklisted one Liberian individual and one Kyrgyz individual under Executive Order 13818, which targets corruption and serious human rights abuse.
Under the sanctions, all property of the three individuals and companies that fall under US jurisdiction are frozen.
“Corruption knows no borders,” said one senior US official, adding that Wednesday’s actions were part of a broader US anti-corruption drive that had seen sanctions imposed on over 200 individuals between 2017 and 2020.
The official said the latest actions should curb corrupt activity since all three individuals had “sufficient touch points with the US or other financial systems”, but it was difficult to quantify the likely impact.