23 hours Ago By Max Maddison, David Crowe
Liberal candidate Scott Yung addressed a casino high roller linked to the Chinese Communist Party as “brother” in Mandarin and thanked him for organising a Lunar New Year event in Sydney despite previously claiming to have no association with the controversial figure. Yung asked attendees to applaud Xie Xiongming, a former associate of billionaire Huang Xiangmo – – a political donor now barred from Australia on national security grounds – during the event in Sydney on January 6. Liberal A-Frames for Bennelong candidate Scott Yung outside his campaign launch on Saturday.
Credit: Oscar Colman Yung also welcomed former Labor state MP Ernest Wong – who was found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 2022– according to a video of the January speech obtained by this masthead. The video raises more questions about Yung and Xie. The Liberal Party said in February that Xie was “just a member of the public” who had appeared at events with the Liberal candidate.
Yung is campaigning in the Sydney seat of Bennelong, currently held by Labor. Xie is a former business partner of Huang, a political donor expelled from Australia in 2019 after spy agency ASIO advised the government he was seeking covertly to advance Beijing’s aims. The NSW Police charged Xie in July 2019 with demanding property worth $10 million from a former gambling associate, but the charges were dropped when a magistrate ruled the case was too weak.
Yung launched his 2025 campaign for Bennelong on Saturday afternoon at the Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club, but he arrived and left the venue through side routes and avoided questions from this masthead in the wake of news reports about his campaign finance issues during a previous state campaign. In a statement responding to questions about Xie and his remarks in the video, Young acknowledged he had attended the community Lunar New Year event. “At the event I was invited up to speak, and as is standard practice I acknowledged those present in the room with culturally appropriate honorifics,” Yung said.
“I have no relationship with this individual or their organisation.” Yung and the Coalition have previously distanced themselves from Xie, who once served as the vice-president of the Huang-chaired Australian Council for the Peaceful Promotion of the Reunification of China that was deemed a “related entity” of the Chinese state. Xie attended the January 6 event to support Yung and later hosted a lavish New Year celebration at Sydney Town Hall on January 30 with senior business and Liberal figures.
He also joined Yung and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during a walk in Chinatown on February 2. The state Liberal Party office then denied he was part of the campaign, a spokesman telling this masthead, “We have confirmed that he is not a part of the campaign or a supporter or a donor, just a member of the public who was there during the Lunar New Year street walk.” The previously unreported video challenges Yung’s efforts to distance himself from Xie.
The three-minute speech in Mandarin begins with the Liberal candidate saying, “I’m very happy today that Brother Ming, Mr Xie, gave us this opportunity and brought us together.” After expressing gratitude for living in Australia, Yung referred to the Australia China Charitable Foundation, which was established by Xie in 2017, and called Xie “Brother Ming” again. “Can we please give a round of applause to Mr Xie, please?” Yung said later.
The national charity regulator has revoked the charity status of Xie’s foundation. It is not connected to the Australian Chinese Charity Foundation, a longstanding charity recognised by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. This masthead contacted a staff member at Xie’s foundation on Saturday afternoon, who said she was “in a meeting” once questions were asked about Yung’s relationship to Xie and the ACCF.
She asked for questions to be emailed to her but did not respond to them. Xie was stabbed, almost fatally, in 2016 as part of a suspected Asian gang hit. In 2019, he was charged with holding a customer at knifepoint to demand $10 million in property, but the charges were dropped.
In his address, Yung also named Wong as attending the event. The Independent Commission Against Corruption found Wong had engaged in corrupt conduct by trying to circumvent donation laws “by attempting to procure a witness to give false testimony” to help conceal an illegal $100,000 donation from Huang. Wong said he attended the lunch for about 30 minutes, one of many community events he attended.
Yung was absent from a press conference with Dutton in his electorate. Party members have become increasingly concerned about the party’s exposure to the disclosure issues related to Yung. Additional reporting by Cindy Yin.
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