Councillors Queried on Chinese/Port Deal

Below is a copy of an email I have sent to every Cristchurch City councillor and Mayor, Garry Moore.

Dear Councillor ..........

Regarding the proposal to sell the Lyttelton Port Company to a subsidiary of Hutchison-Whampoa.

On page two of this morning's Press, Mayor, Garry Moore, dismissed accusations that Hutchison-Whampoa had ties to the Chinese government and the People's Liberation Army as "the work of conspiracy theorists".

He went on to state that the claims seemed to derive from the statements of one US Congresswoman, Dana Rohrabacher, made in 1999.

This is a very important issue for Christchuch and indeed, New Zealand. The Council needs to know all the facts before making a decision.

A quick Google search will show that Hutchison-Whampoa has longstanding and well documented ties to the Chinese Government and Army.

Here are a few links for your information. There a literally hundreds more available (pro and anti), a few mouse clicks away.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/12/210339.shtml

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/8/5/181935.shtml

http://www.security-policy.org/papers/1999/99-C75.html

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:hU2t5myC9lYJ:www.conservativeusa.org/panama-washtimes.htm+hutchison+whampoa+peoples+liberation+army&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=21

I also publish a blog, New Zeal, which is fairly widely read at 12-1500 hits per week. I have published several short articles on the subject, including this and this and will continue to do so as more information comes to hand.

I hope you will take the time to read the information and do some research yourself. I believe this issue has huge moral and strategic implications. I hope you share my concerns, but if you do not I would appreciate it if you would communicate to me your points of disagreement.

Regardless of your views I would like to know them

Yours Faithfully

Trevor Loudon

I will post any interesting replies.