Belmond Hotel, owned by 
Zhang Zhengrong, overlooks Palau’s Malakal Harbor, which will be upgraded by the US military next year so that US warships can enter the Pacific island nation’s narrow channels and dock there. The wharf will be expanded and elevated. There will be a new logistics hub with a warehouse, enabling US Navy ships to refuel, reload and rearm.
US and Palauan officials fear Belmond could house electronic surveillance devices aimed at visiting US warships.
Zhang bought the partly built Belmond for $3 million during the COVID-19 pandemic using the proceeds from his construction businesses.
According to the Palau national security brief, however, Zhang has ties to the Fujianese mafia — known for its global reach — and his money comes from running online scam operations in Southeast Asia.
Zhang denied any involvement in the mafia or scam operations. In December, however, police raided a suspected illegal online gambling and scamming operation in one of his four Palau properties. They arrested one person and several others fled. Zhang said he was merely the landlord.
Zhang said he learned of the Belmond from Siegfried Nakamura, a local lawyer whose family owned the hotel. Nakamura was elected to Palau’s Senate in November.
Nakamura is one of at least three Palauan politicians who allegedly received illegal campaign donations from Zhang. (Foreigners are not allowed to make campaign donations in Palau.)
Zhang said that he gave Nakamura $10,000 in cash but that it was for legal services. It’s unclear whether authorities investigated. Neither Nakamura nor Zhang was charged.
Zhang’s alleged illegal activity, plus the hotel’s proximity to the port, gives US, Palauan and Taiwanese officials cause for concern.
The biggest risk is electronic surveillance. That could be monitoring US Navy communications or taking acoustic signatures from US ships that can be used for torpedo targeting. If satellites were disabled — something many military analysts say would be likely in a conflict between the US and China — the hotel could be used to target the port.
China is trying to create a bunch of options for later. Palau is trying to chip away at China’s options.
In April, Zhang flew from Hong Kong to Koror, Palau, but was sent back after finding out he’d been added to Palau’s rapidly growing list of undesirable aliens.
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washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/
Zhang Zhengrong, overlooks Palau’s Malakal Harbor, which will be upgraded by the US military next year so that US warships can enter the Pacific island nation’s narrow channels and dock there. The wharf will be expanded and elevated. There will be a new logistics hub with a warehouse, enabling US Navy ships to refuel, reload and rearm.
US and Palauan officials fear Belmond could house electronic surveillance devices aimed at visiting US warships.
Zhang bought the partly built Belmond for $3 million during the COVID-19 pandemic using the proceeds from his construction businesses.
According to the Palau national security brief, however, Zhang has ties to the Fujianese mafia — known for its global reach — and his money comes from running online scam operations in Southeast Asia.
Zhang denied any involvement in the mafia or scam operations. In December, however, police raided a suspected illegal online gambling and scamming operation in one of his four Palau properties. They arrested one person and several others fled. Zhang said he was merely the landlord.
Zhang said he learned of the Belmond from Siegfried Nakamura, a local lawyer whose family owned the hotel. Nakamura was elected to Palau’s Senate in November.
Nakamura is one of at least three Palauan politicians who allegedly received illegal campaign donations from Zhang. (Foreigners are not allowed to make campaign donations in Palau.)
Zhang said that he gave Nakamura $10,000 in cash but that it was for legal services. It’s unclear whether authorities investigated. Neither Nakamura nor Zhang was charged.
Zhang’s alleged illegal activity, plus the hotel’s proximity to the port, gives US, Palauan and Taiwanese officials cause for concern.
The biggest risk is electronic surveillance. That could be monitoring US Navy communications or taking acoustic signatures from US ships that can be used for torpedo targeting. If satellites were disabled — something many military analysts say would be likely in a conflict between the US and China — the hotel could be used to target the port.
China is trying to create a bunch of options for later. Palau is trying to chip away at China’s options.
In April, Zhang flew from Hong Kong to Koror, Palau, but was sent back after finding out he’d been added to Palau’s rapidly growing list of undesirable aliens.
1/n
washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/
Roughly 40 miles south of Malakal Harbor sits the island of Angaur. It, too, is in the middle of an American military upgrade. It, too, has been the focus of Chinese interest.
The US military has spent the past two years and $100 million clearing 100 acres here for a receiver for its Tactical Multi-Mission Over the Horizon Radar, or TACMOR. The system, which requires transmitter and receiver stations at least 50 miles apart, will enable the US to detect Chinese hypersonic missiles or airplanes that might target US forces in the Second Island Chain to prevent them from aiding Taiwan.
In 2010, Palau’s government publicly urged the US, which was relocating Marines from 
Okinawa, to move them to Angaur. Soon after, Chinese investors started expressing interest in the remote island.
Land records show that in 2014, Tian Hang (田行), a longtime resident in Palau known here as Hunter Tian, signed contracts with four family groups to lease about 250 acres of land, including near Angaur’s airstrip and port, for what he said would be a resort.
Tian is the president of the Palau Overseas Chinese Federation, which functions as part of the CCP’s United Front Work Department promoting state objectives and whose members have given illegal campaign contributions to pro-China politicians in Palau. None has been charged.
The US and Palau announced the plan for the TACMOR system in mid-2017. A few months later, Tian took prominent Palauans including former president Johnson Toribiong to China to meet with officials. Tian also launched a China-Palau trade organization and an ill-fated media organization in Palau with ties to security services.
In 2018, Tian’s deputy in the federation introduced Palau’s then president, Tommy Remengesau Jr, to Wan Kuok Koi, a Macao mob boss known as “Broken Tooth” who served 14 years in prison in Macao for illegal gambling, loan-sharking and attempted murder. It became clear in 2019 when Wan boasted in Hong Kong media of his plans for a Palau casino resort — located in Angaur, it was later revealed — where he would control “customs, ports and an airport.” Remengesau responded by banning foreigners with criminal histories from coming to Palau. The US Treasury later imposed sanctions on Wan.
Wan was also interested in leasing land next to a second TACMOR site, a transmitter 60 miles north of Angaur in Palau’s Ngaraard state.
Alan Seid, a prominent Palau businessman, signed a MOU to lease to Wan a plot of land across the road from the Ngaraard transmitter site. Wan promised to pay as much as $15 million but never delivered.
It was “suspect” that Wan, who had been honored by Beijing for his patriotism, had explored leasing land near both TACMOR locations. “When you begin to see the connections, then you begin to wonder how can the Chinese government say they’re not working with organized crime.”
Beijing selectively uses organized crime groups to further its objectives overseas.
“It works for Beijing in two ways. They can export their criminal problem, but then they also turn that criminal problem into their front line of influence, basically just to sow corruption and to erode governance in these small island states.”
Tian’s Angaur leases have expired, and Wan’s plan for both TACMOR sites ended when he had to leave the country. But the transmitter site in Ngaraard state, where work awaits an environmental permit, could soon be overlooked by a 275-room Chinese resort.
Tian Shuchun (no relation to Hunter Tian) leased 60 acres here in 2015, two years before the TACMOR announcement. But it wasn’t until late 2023, shortly after the US military held its first public meetings on the radar, that he registered plans to build the Palau International Grand Hotel. His company, Great Wall Garments, a women’s clothing manufacturer in Tianjin, near Beijing, has branched out into “high-end hotel resorts” in China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Palau.
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Okinawa, to move them to Angaur. Soon after, Chinese investors started expressing interest in the remote island.
Land records show that in 2014, Tian Hang (田行), a longtime resident in Palau known here as Hunter Tian, signed contracts with four family groups to lease about 250 acres of land, including near Angaur’s airstrip and port, for what he said would be a resort.
Tian is the president of the Palau Overseas Chinese Federation, which functions as part of the CCP’s United Front Work Department promoting state objectives and whose members have given illegal campaign contributions to pro-China politicians in Palau. None has been charged.
The US and Palau announced the plan for the TACMOR system in mid-2017. A few months later, Tian took prominent Palauans including former president Johnson Toribiong to China to meet with officials. Tian also launched a China-Palau trade organization and an ill-fated media organization in Palau with ties to security services.
In 2018, Tian’s deputy in the federation introduced Palau’s then president, Tommy Remengesau Jr, to Wan Kuok Koi, a Macao mob boss known as “Broken Tooth” who served 14 years in prison in Macao for illegal gambling, loan-sharking and attempted murder. It became clear in 2019 when Wan boasted in Hong Kong media of his plans for a Palau casino resort — located in Angaur, it was later revealed — where he would control “customs, ports and an airport.” Remengesau responded by banning foreigners with criminal histories from coming to Palau. The US Treasury later imposed sanctions on Wan.
Wan was also interested in leasing land next to a second TACMOR site, a transmitter 60 miles north of Angaur in Palau’s Ngaraard state.
Alan Seid, a prominent Palau businessman, signed a MOU to lease to Wan a plot of land across the road from the Ngaraard transmitter site. Wan promised to pay as much as $15 million but never delivered.
It was “suspect” that Wan, who had been honored by Beijing for his patriotism, had explored leasing land near both TACMOR locations. “When you begin to see the connections, then you begin to wonder how can the Chinese government say they’re not working with organized crime.”
Beijing selectively uses organized crime groups to further its objectives overseas.
“It works for Beijing in two ways. They can export their criminal problem, but then they also turn that criminal problem into their front line of influence, basically just to sow corruption and to erode governance in these small island states.”
Tian’s Angaur leases have expired, and Wan’s plan for both TACMOR sites ended when he had to leave the country. But the transmitter site in Ngaraard state, where work awaits an environmental permit, could soon be overlooked by a 275-room Chinese resort.
Tian Shuchun (no relation to Hunter Tian) leased 60 acres here in 2015, two years before the TACMOR announcement. But it wasn’t until late 2023, shortly after the US military held its first public meetings on the radar, that he registered plans to build the Palau International Grand Hotel. His company, Great Wall Garments, a women’s clothing manufacturer in Tianjin, near Beijing, has branched out into “high-end hotel resorts” in China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Palau.
2/nTian has been a member of CCP for 46 years and has been awarded several honors, including “Outstanding Communist Party Member of Tianjin,” according to the Tianjin Small and Medium Enterprises Association, where Tian serves as a deputy director. The association has close ties with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a key part of China’s united front.
Tian joined PLA at age 19. When his company hosted an event for PLA veterans in 2022 to promote patriotism and loyalty to the CCP, he told the gathering that he still practiced many PLA habits including “a hard work ethic,” according to a local government press release.
US and Palau officials also worry about Tian’s local ties. In January, Palauan authorities busted what they said was a Chinese-language online gambling and scam operation in a hotel owned by the family of Vance Polycarp, the local agent for Tian’s hotel project. A dozen people, including eight of Polycarp’s employees, were detained. Polycarp was charged with four misdemeanor labor violations.
***
In October, six US C-17 transport planes swept down on Palau’s Roman Tmetuchl International Airport, part of an exercise simulating scenarios the US could face in Palau in a conflict with China. Hundreds of Army Rangers practiced rapidly securing the airfield before an artillery brigade launched six missiles from High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), all while an electromagnetic warfare squadron provided secure communications.
A mile from the western end of the runway, a sign in Chinese and English warns the public to stay out. Atop a hill, workers were finishing the foundations of a 50-room hotel called the Ritzy.
The company building the Ritzy — Horizon Holdings Group — has ties to a Chinese-Cambodian conglomerate — Prince Holding Group — that Chinese officials have linked to transnational crime. A risk assessment suggests that the two companies are associated.
Li Yangkun, Horizon Holding’s chairman, claimed that the links stemmed from a partner’s selling a company to the Prince Group in 2017. However, commercial data shows that Li’s partner, Zhou Bo, continued to serve as a director of the company for at least two years after the sale, alongside Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi. Zhou also served alongside Chen for several years as a director of Prince Bank PLC, a Prince Group subsidiary.
Chinese prosecutors have accused Prince Group subsidiaries of luring people to Cambodia to work in online casinos. The CCP’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commissionhas called the Phnom Penh-based conglomerate a “massive cross-border online gambling corporation,” with officials estimating illicit revenue of $700 million between 2016 and 2024.
Prince Group spokesman Gabriel Tan acknowledged the past links between Zhou and Chen but said Zhou’s involvement with the Prince Group ended in 2019. Records show that was when Horizon Holdings was incorporated, also in Cambodia.
Tan said the Prince Group has no ties to the Ritzy or Horizon Holdings and “no operations, investments, development activities, subsidiaries, or partnerships in Palau.” He said that any court cases mentioning the company were “cases of impersonation” and that “no executive or employee” has been prosecuted, convicted or “formally investigated in China or any other jurisdiction.”
The conglomerate has maintained its business in China, including several real estate offices that work with state-owned companies, and is involved in projects in the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s global infrastructure investment program.
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CCP for 46 years and has been awarded several honors, including “Outstanding Communist Party Member of Tianjin,” according to the Tianjin Small and Medium Enterprises Association, where Tian serves as a deputy director. The association has close ties with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a key part of China’s united front.
Tian joined PLA at age 19. When his company hosted an event for PLA veterans in 2022 to promote patriotism and loyalty to the CCP, he told the gathering that he still practiced many PLA habits including “a hard work ethic,” according to a local government press release.
US and Palau officials also worry about Tian’s local ties. In January, Palauan authorities busted what they said was a Chinese-language online gambling and scam operation in a hotel owned by the family of Vance Polycarp, the local agent for Tian’s hotel project. A dozen people, including eight of Polycarp’s employees, were detained. Polycarp was charged with four misdemeanor labor violations.
***
In October, six US C-17 transport planes swept down on Palau’s Roman Tmetuchl International Airport, part of an exercise simulating scenarios the US could face in Palau in a conflict with China. Hundreds of Army Rangers practiced rapidly securing the airfield before an artillery brigade launched six missiles from High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), all while an electromagnetic warfare squadron provided secure communications.
A mile from the western end of the runway, a sign in Chinese and English warns the public to stay out. Atop a hill, workers were finishing the foundations of a 50-room hotel called the Ritzy.
The company building the Ritzy — Horizon Holdings Group — has ties to a Chinese-Cambodian conglomerate — Prince Holding Group — that Chinese officials have linked to transnational crime. A risk assessment suggests that the two companies are associated.
Li Yangkun, Horizon Holding’s chairman, claimed that the links stemmed from a partner’s selling a company to the Prince Group in 2017. However, commercial data shows that Li’s partner, Zhou Bo, continued to serve as a director of the company for at least two years after the sale, alongside Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi. Zhou also served alongside Chen for several years as a director of Prince Bank PLC, a Prince Group subsidiary.
Chinese prosecutors have accused Prince Group subsidiaries of luring people to Cambodia to work in online casinos. The CCP’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commissionhas called the Phnom Penh-based conglomerate a “massive cross-border online gambling corporation,” with officials estimating illicit revenue of $700 million between 2016 and 2024.
Prince Group spokesman Gabriel Tan acknowledged the past links between Zhou and Chen but said Zhou’s involvement with the Prince Group ended in 2019. Records show that was when Horizon Holdings was incorporated, also in Cambodia.
Tan said the Prince Group has no ties to the Ritzy or Horizon Holdings and “no operations, investments, development activities, subsidiaries, or partnerships in Palau.” He said that any court cases mentioning the company were “cases of impersonation” and that “no executive or employee” has been prosecuted, convicted or “formally investigated in China or any other jurisdiction.”
The conglomerate has maintained its business in China, including several real estate offices that work with state-owned companies, and is involved in projects in the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s global infrastructure investment program.
3/nPalau’s National Security Coordination Office warned in a report that the Ritzy’s alleged ties to the Prince Group threatened to introduce “illegal gambling and other illicit activities.” The Palauan government put three people associated with the Ritzy on the undesirable-alien list in April. The only Ritzy employee still in Palau is a Chinese project manager named Mu Hongyue.
“A mile would be close enough to launch an unjammable fiber-optic drone or intercept radio communications.”
“You just need to find one or two pilots or navigators who aren’t on the ball and forget to do the right equipment setup and, boom, you’ve got an intelligence coup for your country.”
The Ritzy isn’t the only Chinese development with alleged links to the Prince Group. A project is set to begin in Palau’s north near a US coastal surveillance system, a radar with a 75-mile radius.
In late 2019, not long after he was in discussions with Wan over the land near the TACMOR site in Ngaraard, Seid was approached about an uninhabited islet he co-owned. He took a group of Chinese businessmen led by a “Mr. Chen” — who insisted that he wasn’t to be photographed — to Ngerbelas, where he barbecued freshly speared fish for them. He eventually leased them the island for up to 99 years for $7 million.
The Grand Legend International Asset Management Group is now poised to build a luxury resort on Ngerbelas. Palau corporate records show its largest joint shareholder is Chen Zhi, the Chinese-born naturalized Cambodian citizen who heads the Prince Group.
A document for the resort filed with the Palauan government says that “Grand Legend is a subsidiary of Prince Real Estate Group.” The website for another Prince Group subsidiary featured a map — now removed — showing a project in Ngerbelas.
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