Xianglu Dragon pursuing Philippine investments

MANILA, Philippines -  Chinese conglomerate Xianglu Dragon Group (XDG) plans to pursue investments in the Philippines despite controversies surrounding its top executive who has been tagged as a “notorious Taiwanese fugitive swindler.”

In a statement, XDG said it would push through with programmed investments in a petrochemical, oil refinery, cement and industrial complex in Western Pangasinan, along with a major tourism and IT services center and hotel in Metro Manila.

“The proposed Philippine projects are part of the group’s thrust to further its reach in industrial, petrochemical and real estate projects outside China, where it is already a leading player in these fields,” XDG said, noting it is also one of the largest hotel and real estate developers in California, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan.

XDG said it has rapidly diversified its holdings abroad under the helm of its founder You-Hao Chen, who the firm described as “a Chinese citizen who had been subject of political persecution in Taiwan under the ruling DPP political party.”

“Despite these political intramurals, which have not hindered XDG’s earlier investments in other countries, we stand ready to infuse our substantial financial, technical and technological resources to build a lasting and mutually-beneficial partnership between the Philippines and China,” the group said.

XDG said the group stands ready to swiftly implement the projects in its investment applications with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for the creation of a mixed-use tourism ecozone with a major IT component in Manila and a mixed-use special economic zone in Western Pangasinan.

“XDG will also partner up with other Chinese companies to develop the Philippine projects in line with China’s Belt and Road Initiatives in support of the Duterte administration,” it added.

Speaking on behalf of the Taiwan government, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines issued a statement Wednesday alerting the country about Chen’s highly risky investment projects and urged the  Bureau of Immigration to deport Chen back to Taiwan for justice as soon as possible.

TECO said Chen was issued a circular order of arrest on Jan. 14, 2014 by Taiwan Taipei District Court.

 A former chief executive officer of Tuntex Group in Taiwan, Chen was prosecuted by the Taiwan Taipei District Prosecutors Office on account of fraud, unlawful embezzlement and other serious economic crimes of defrauding, according to TECO.

Last July, PEZA director general Charito Plaza said she had met with Chen, wherein the latter expressed interest to register its upcoming projects with the agency.

The projects include an 85-story IT building along Roxas Boulevard in Manila and a 3,000-hectare mixed-use special ecozone in Pangasinan, according to Plaza.