Chinese Oil Tycoon Linked to Biden Family Headed for Legal Crash

The New York Times on Wednesday chronicled the meteoric rise and equally precipitous downfall of Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming. The “People’s Liberation Army princeling” rolled into Washington as a shining example of a booming economy but now sits in an unknown Chinese prison cell while his empire collapses and his underlings face charges in U.S. federal court.

The Times was particularly interested in Ye’s courtship of former Vice President Joe Biden and his family. Biden’s Chinese relationships were first discussed in Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer’s bestselling book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends. The Ye saga could prove troubling to Biden if he makes a run at the White House in 2020 and will likely play a role in the endgame of current President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

As the New York Times described at length, Ye was a high-flying oilman who “ventured to places only the most politically connected Chinese companies dared to go,” meaning hotspots like North Korea and African conflict zones. He assiduously cultivated American political influence during the Obama administration, having launched his CEFC China Energy conglomerate in 2006.

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