Last week, HNA was the subject of wild online speculation after a fugitive Chinese billionaire said in a television interview that relatives of a senior Chinese leader, Wang Qishan, had a stake in the company. No proof was provided.

The allegations leveled by the billionaire, Guo Wengui, who has ties to China’s former spy chief, is part of his broader war on the Chinese government. From his New York apartment, Mr. Guo, using his Twitter account and Google’s YouTube, has been making claims of widespread government corruption. China has requested his arrest, on separate corruption charges.

As speculation swirled that HNA could be drawn into a political firestorm, shares of one of the company’s Hong Kong affiliates tumbled late last month. Soon after, critical news articles on the group began disappearing from Chinese websites, prompting concerns that government censors had handed down orders to delete unfavorable news about HNA.

Eoin Treacy's view

Mrs. Treacy has been following this story closely. Guo’s interview on Voice of America’s Chinese channel in late April, which had been headlined as an exposé, was cut short when Chinese officials called the show directly to insist it be cut off. Here is a section from an article discussing the event: 

On the same day of the interview, Interpol issued a red notice for Guo’s arrest on corruption charges, following a request from the Chinese government. China's Deputy Security Minister, Meng Hongwei, is Interpol's current head.

In addition, on the day of the interview, 19 April, state media broadcast the "confession" of former Deputy Minister of State Security, Ma Jian.

In the video, Ma claims that he received gifts worth 60 million yuan (US$ 8.7 million) from Guo in exchange of favours like wiretaps from competitors, stopping police investigations into Guo’s affairs and those of his company, and threats against journalists who wrote damaging articles about him. 

I watched that confession video with Mrs. Treacy and it’s safe to say Ma Jian was looking shaken up to say the least. The tit-for-tat allegations of corruption arising between the Chinese administration and Guo are not great for optics and highlight just how much money is at stake. The big allegation Guo has is that Wan Qishan’s family are the power behind Hainan Airlines ascent. Since he is Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption chief these interviews represent a major public relations problem. 

It appears Guo has given up hope of getting his family out of China but in recent days his brother was released from prison, apparently in return for a commitment that there would be no fresh allegations within the next three months. Longer-term Guo’s “long shot” ambition may be to set up an alternative political apparatus to challenge the Communist Party so this is a story worth monitoring.