一個潛逃海外的中國富豪如何攪亂華盛頓政壇（中英文）

故事的起因是，地產大亨郭文貴雇傭了一家公司，據稱是為其搜集一些中國人的負面情況，包括他們的銀行賬戶、色情癖好，以及任何私生子。後來，這家公司遭到了郭文貴的起訴，郭表示這家公司未能完成工作。作為回應，這家情報公司聲稱，郭文貴方面曾經給了他們一個裝有惡意軟體的優盤，同時郭文貴試圖挖掘黑幕的那些人員的名單對華盛頓政府非常敏感。
The ongoing suit, the details of which are reported here for the first time, deepens the already considerable mystique surrounding the billionaire businessman. An ally of Steve Bannon』s and a fugitive from Chinese authorities, Guo now lives in New York. His presence in the U.S. has exacerbated tensions between China』s ruling Communist Party and the administration of President Donald Trump. The case also offers a rare behind-the-curtain glimpse at the tactics of 21st century geopolitical intrigue, where it is increasingly common for deep-pocketed clients with political agendas to pay firms with government contacts and cyber know-how to obtain people』s sensitive private information — and then use it to destroy them.
目前正在進行的訴訟的細節首次在此被披露，該訴訟也使得圍繞這個富豪的神秘性進一步加深。他是班農的盟友、是一個與中國體制密切相關的富豪，現在住在紐約。他在美國的存在進一步加劇了中國共產黨和特朗普政府之間的緊張局勢。此案也使得外界可以窺探到21世紀地緣政治領域的隱秘手法，在這個領域內，資金實力雄厚的客戶，為了實現自己的政治目的，往往可以雇傭一些與政府或黑客有聯繫的公司。他們知道如何獲取敏感的隱私內容。這些客戶於是會利用這些信息進行破壞活動。
The details of the suit, which is being waged in federal court in the Southern District of New York, read more like a spy novel than a dry legal document. Guo, who goes by Miles Kwok in the U.S., built a sizable fortune in real estate in China before apparently running afoul of the country』s government and fleeing in 2014. A year later, he came to the U.S., where he is seeking asylum while he lives in an opulent Manhattan apartment and publicizes claims of corruption against Chinese government officials. Since Guo fled to the U.S., the Chinese government has accused him of a raft of crimes, and a former assistant has accused him of rape. Guo has denied the allegations against him, calling them politically motivated. In early 2018, the Guo-linked firm hired Strategic Vision, an obscure company led by
Washington-area executive French Wallop, to dig up information on several targets, whom the suit does not name. According to a court filing by Wallop』s firm, Guo enlisted it, "To perform research and analytics on numerous Chinese Nationals whom Mr. Guo and his undisclosed Chinese associates suspected to be engaged in activities in the United States and elsewhere that are inconsistent with their standing in the Chinese Communist Party and/or the laws of the United States."
目前正在紐約南區聯邦法院開展的訴訟的內容，看起來更像是一部間諜小說，而不是法律材料。郭文貴在美國的名字是Miles Kwok，他在與中國政府發生矛盾並於2014年出逃前，在中國房地產領域賺取了大量財富。一年後，郭文貴來到美國，並尋求政治庇護，在此期間其住在曼哈頓的豪華公寓內，並不斷公布一些中國官員的腐敗傳言。自從郭文貴來到美國后，中國政府就指控郭犯有一系列罪行，而郭文貴的一名前助理指責郭強姦她。郭文貴否認對他的指控，並稱這些指控有政治目的。2018年初，郭的一家公司雇傭了Strategic Vision公司，這是一家華盛頓地區負責人French Wallop運作的隱秘公司。郭文貴雇傭這家公司挖掘一些目標人士的信息，而這些人士的具體名字並沒有在訴訟中被提及。根據Wallop的公司的訴訟材料，郭雇傭該公司，以便「對多名中國人開展研究和分析工作，郭先生和他的未公開姓名的幾名助理懷疑這些中國人涉及在美國等地區的一些活動，而這些活動與中國共產黨的立場不一致，同時/或者不符合美國的法律。」

Wallop was the third wife of Malcolm Wallop, the late Republican senator from Wyoming. In recent years, she has maintained a low profile in Washington, though in the midst of her divorce from the senator in 2000, the Washington Post』s gossip columnist obtained a sharply worded change-of-address note she sent around to friends stating, 「French Wallop regrets to inform you that due to a significant indiscretion on the part of her husband of 16 years, he may now be reached at the following address.」 On her LinkedIn profile, Wallop refers to Strategic Vision as a 「strategic consulting firm.」 In addition to Wallop, J. Michael Waller acted as a representative of Strategic Vision, according to a letter the firm submitted to the court. Waller is a vice president at the far-right Center for Security Policy, a think tank founded by Frank Gaffney, a national security activist known for his conspiratorial hostility to Islam. Waller also served as the ghostwriter for the memoirs of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, according to his website.
Wallop是前懷俄明州參議員Malcolm Wallop的第三任妻子。近年來，她在華盛頓行事低調。2000年，她與Malcolm Wallop離婚，當時《華盛頓郵報》的專欄作家收到了一份措辭嚴厲的修改聯繫地址的聲明，Wallop在聲明中表示，「French Wallop遺憾地通知各位，由於其丈夫16年來的嚴重問題，現在將更改他的聯繫地址。」此外，根據訴訟文件顯示，Wallop, J. Michael Waller也是Strategic Vision公司的代表。Waller是一家名為Center for Security Policy的極右翼智庫的副主席。該智庫的創始人是Frank Gaffney，他是一名國家安全領域的活躍人士，以期對伊斯蘭的敵對立場而聞名。Waller還是黑水創始人Erik Prince回憶錄的代筆。

By late 2017, when Guo was allegedly arranging for the contract, he also became something of a political football as Beijing sought his return to China. Earlier that year, China issued an Interpol red notice for his arrest. Then Chinese officials traveling to the U.S. on transit visas, which did not permit them to conduct government business, visited Guo at his apartment. This prompted a standoff, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, between the Justice Department, which wanted to arrest the Chinese officials, and the State Department, which successfully held the DOJ at bay. Casino magnate Steve Wynn, a longtime Trump confidant with business interests in China, reportedly hand-delivered the president a letter from the Chinese government requesting Guo』s handover, though Wynn』s firm has denied it. Guo』s fate became a subject of heated internal debate within the administration, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly threatened to resign if the renegade mogul was turned over to China. According to one person who knows the people involved, it was in the context of this battle over his fate that Guo sought dirt on Chinese nationals: He wanted, this person said, to ingratiate himself with U.S. authorities by offering them intelligence, financed from his own fortune, in a bid to show he could be useful.
2018年1月，郭的一家香港公司Eastern Profit與Strategic Vision美國分公司簽署了一份合約。Strategic Vision公司在訴訟中附上了這5頁合約內容，使得外界可以看到罕見的私人間諜活動合約。根據合約，客戶每年支付900萬美元，獲取10名不具名人士的隱私——文件中這些人士以「魚」的稱呼代替——內容涵蓋這些人士的所有活動，包括金融記錄、敏感的個人信息。比如，家庭、婚外情、私生子，以及涉及色情活動的情況。根據郭名下公司的聲明，Strategic Vision自稱擁有一名前國家安全局特工作為僱員，同時也為「民主黨人士、一位中東王子、俄羅斯反對派服務。」郭文貴方面表示，Strategic Vision還提供了「一份樣本合約，看起來這家公司可以進入銀行系統，找出洗錢的證據。」但是，原告郭文貴方面表示，在郭向Strategic Vision支付100萬美元資金后，發現該公司並不具備其聲稱的那些能力。
Not long after, Eastern Profit sued Strategic Vision. The case remained under seal for several months, keeping it from public view. Though much of the court record has now been unsealed, parts of the case remain under a protective order that prevents sensitive details from being revealed. In a countersuit, Strategic Vision accused Guo and his representatives of a variety of troubling actions. The firm, which denied most of Eastern Profit』s allegations, claimed that when a representative of Guo』s provided a thumb drive with information on his chosen surveillance targets — Chinese officials whom Guo allegedly suspected of wrongdoing — the thumb drive turned out to be loaded with sophisticated malware. After the firm complained, it says it received three new thumb drives from Guo』s side, one of which also contained malware. According to the counter-claim, which has been dismissed without prejudice, Guo was introduced to Strategic Vision by Lianchao Han, a dissident activist and visiting fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. But, it alleges, Guo later told the firm that Han could not be
trusted. Instead, Guo allegedly told the firm to communicate with his assistant, whom Guo 「oddly advised was a member of the Chinese Communist Party who also could not be trusted.」 Han did not respond to requests for comment.
不久之後，Eastern Profit就起訴了Strategic Vision公司。此案在之後幾個月都未對外界公開。雖然許多案件情況目前已經披露，但是有一部分內容仍然未解密，以防止一些敏感信息遭到泄露。Strategic Vision指責郭文貴及其助手存在一系列不當行為。Strategic Vision否認了大多數指控，並表示郭的一名助手向公司提供包括監控目標人士（郭聲稱其懷疑這些人士存在不當行為）信息的優盤后，公司發現優盤中存在惡意軟體。在公司對此予以抱怨后，又收到了3個優盤，其中一個還是存在惡意軟體。Strategic Vision方面表示，最初是韓連潮向公司引薦郭文貴的，韓是一家保守派智庫哈德遜研究所的訪問學者。但是，Strategic Vision稱，郭此後向公司表示，不能信任韓，並要求公司與郭的一名助手聯繫。但是郭卻奇怪地表示，」這名助手曾經是中國共產黨，也不能信任。「韓沒有對此事進行回應。
The firm also alleged that, when it began researching its targets, it discovered they 「had been designated by the U.S. Department of State under the Obama administration as 『Records Protected』 persons, meaning that information concerning their status and activities was not subject to disclosure under any circumstances. Strategic Vision learned that attempting to research subjects known to be 'Records Protected' could be a criminal activity." It is not clear to what exactly the 「Records Protected」 designation refers. The State Department did not respond to questions about the term, and several former top legal advisers at State said they were not familiar with it. 「I have never heard of a State Department 『records protected』 designation per se,」 wrote Brian Egan, a partner at the law firm Steptoe who served as the department』s top legal adviser at the end of Barack Obama』s administration. 「I am also having a hard time imagining a circumstance in which a private person or company could be prosecuted for merely attempting to research information about a particular individual.」 A lawyer for Eastern Profit, Zachary Grendi, forwarded a request for comment to Daniel Podhaskie, a lawyer for Guo』s family office, who declined to comment. A lawyer for Strategic Vision, Mark Berube, did not respond to requests for comment. Waller declined to comment on the record.
公司還表示，當其開始調查目標人士后，發現這些人士」在奧巴馬政府期間，被國務院歸類為『記錄保護』人士，這意味著這些人士的狀況、活動在任何情況下都不能公開。Strategic Vision獲悉，對這些人士的調查可能是犯罪行為。「目前尚不清楚，」記錄保護「到底意味著什麼。國務院未對此事給予回應，同時幾名前國務院高官也表示對這類事宜不知情。Brian Egan是Steptoe律所的合伙人。
The circumstances of the lawsuit are just one of the many mysteries swirling around Guo. Many basic details of his biography, including his exact age, remain hazy. He was born roughly 50 years ago, reportedly in the coastal Shandong Province in Eastern China — or, he has claimed, in Jilin Province in the country』s north — and made a fortune in real estate, benefiting from the construction boom around the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There, he developed a reputation for playing hardball. After clashing with a deputy mayor of Beijing
這起訴訟只是圍繞郭文貴的諸多神秘問題之一。關於他的許多問題仍然不明確，其中包括他的實際年齡。他大約在50年前出生，據稱出生地是中國山東的郊區，但郭自稱出生在中國北部的吉林省。據稱，郭文貴通過2008年奧運會期間的建築生意積累了財富。在北京，他以行事強硬聞名。在與北京市副市長發生糾紛后，郭向警方提供了該副市長與情婦的性愛視頻，導致此人被逮捕，政治生涯就此斷送。郭的發跡可能與一名中國國家安全部的高官有關。這名高官叫馬建，此前是一名副部長，其在2015年因貪污被逮捕。2個月後，中國媒體《財新》發表了一篇關於郭的文章，揭露了郭與馬建的關係。當時，郭已經出逃。抵達美國之後，郭持續發表關於腐敗和其它過失的指控，惹怒了中國政府。這名反叛的商人還在紐約成立了郭媒體，協助其對抗中國共產黨，同時還會通過視頻形式指責相關問題。與此同時，郭還在繼續著其奢華的生活，比如在其價值2千萬美元的遊艇上發布視頻。
Guo accused China』s top anti-corruption official, Wang Qishan, of corruption and of having an affair with a famous actress, Fan Bingbing, whose temporary disappearance became an international mystery of its own last year. He also offered his own theory on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, claiming the CCP brought down the Beijingbound plane to get rid of people who could have blown the whistle on an organ-harvesting scheme in Nanjing. Guo』s bombastic style and real estate background have prompted comparisons to Trump. He is even a member of Mar-a-Lago, prompting concerns that he might attempt to show up at the club during Xi』s first summit with Trump in the spring of 2017 and cause some sort of international incident. 「I like because Donald Trump the president talks [about] fake news. This idea is really good,」 Guo, whose English is rudimentary, told Vice News. 「Everything [said] about me is fake.」 One thing about Guo is clear: Since arriving in the U.S., he has embraced the country』s litigious culture. In addition to the private spying case, he is embroiled in several ongoing legal fights, including a dispute with his former attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner, the firm founded by politically connected super lawyer David Boies. Guo also sued Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, Trump』s longtime political adviser, last year for $100 million after Stone claimed the billionaire had illegally donated to Hillary Clinton and was funding a presidential run by Bannon. In December, Stone retracted his statements and apologized.
郭文貴指責中國反貪高級官員王岐山貪污，並與知名演員范冰冰有關聯。范冰冰去年的突然消失問題，引起了國際社會的關注。郭文貴還對2014年馬航370航班空難給出了自己的解釋。郭文貴稱，此事由中國共產黨所為，目的是清除那些告發南京活摘器官活動的人士。郭文貴誇張的風格，以及房地產背景，使外界將其與特朗普做對比。郭文貴甚至是Mar-a-Lago俱樂部的會員，這使得外界擔心，郭文貴可能企圖在2017年春季習近平首次在該俱樂部與特朗普會面時出現並製造國際事件。郭文貴的英語仍停留在初級水平，其在接受Vice News採訪時表示，」我喜歡因為特朗普總統經常談論假新聞。這個主意很不錯。所有關於我的事情都是假的。「但是有一件關於郭文貴的事情是明確的，自從其抵達美國之後，就接納了這個國家的司法文化。除了這次的間諜官司，他還與前代理律所Boies Schiller Flexner發生糾紛，該律所由大律師David Boies創立，此人在政界人脈很廣。郭還起訴過共和黨臭名昭著的Roger Stone，此人是特朗普的長期政治顧問。郭要求其賠償100萬美元，原因是Stone聲稱郭文貴非法向希拉里提供資助，並通過班農資助總統競選。12月，Stone收回了他的言論並予以道歉。
In recent days, what appears to be the Twitter account for Guo Media has repeatedly posted a photo of Bannon and Guo hugging each other as well as a photo of Bannon photoshopped to show him aiming a double-barreled pistol with flames behind him in the background. On Sunday, Guo Media』s YouTube page posted a video of a three-hour political discussion between Bannon and Guo, who sat together at a desk in front of a Chinese landscape painting. "The Chinese people are being suppressed and enslaved,」 Bannon, dressed all in black, declared. Guo, in a tailored blue suit, smiled and gestured expressively. On an iPad, Guo showed Bannon messages he said came from Chinese citizens. "All of these messages are to express love to Mr. Bannon,」 Guo said. 「They all tell you that they love you, Mr. Bannon.」 Despite his aggressive campaign against Beijing, Guo remains a puzzle to China-watchers, with some supporting his asylum hopes and others remaining suspicious of his motives.
近日，一個看似屬於郭媒體的推特賬號頻繁發布班農與郭文貴擁抱在一起的照片，以及一張班農的PS照片，顯示班農手持一把雙管槍械進行瞄準的畫面。周日，郭媒體的YouTube頁面還上傳了一段3個小時的視頻，內容是班農與郭文貴的政治問題討論，兩人坐在一個有中國山水畫的背景前。班農身穿全黑色服裝，稱「中國人民正在被壓迫和奴役。」郭文貴身穿藍色定製套裝，則意味深長地回以微笑和致意。郭文貴還向班農展示了其從中國公民那裡收到的信息，稱「這些信息都表達了對班農先生的熱愛。他們想說，他們喜歡你，班農先生。」雖然郭文貴對北京採取的激進的活動，但是對於中國觀察人士來說，他仍然是一個問號，一些人支持其政治庇護的申請，一些人質疑他的動機。