China's Coal Market in Tentative Recovery as Temperatures Soar
Thermal coal had been in near-continuous decline since the autumn, with the benchmark price plumbing a four-year low of 610 yuan ($85) a ton earlier this month. By Wednesday, it had inched up to 619 yuan, according to the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association (CCTD).
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Better Artificial Intelligence Stock: Palantir (PLTR) vs. Alibaba (BABA)
Key Points Alibaba generates much greater revenue and profits than Palantir. Palantir is growing much more rapidly than Alibaba. Alibaba's valuation looks much more attractive than Palantir's. 10 stocks we like better than Alibaba Group › If a five-year look at history is any guide, there's no contest in deciding between investing in Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) or Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA). Palantir's share price has skyrocketed a staggering 1,560% since its initial public offering in 2020. Alibaba's shares have plunged almost 60% during the same period. But the past isn't always a great predictor of the future, and investor have to ask: Which is the better artificial intelligence (AI) stock going forward? Here's how Palantir and Alibaba stack up against each other. Financials These two AI stocks match up quite closely on at least one key financial metric. Palantir's return on equity is 12.36% compared to 11.44% for Alibaba. However, that's perhaps the only similarity between the two companies when it comes to financials. Alibaba rakes in a lot more money than Palantir does. Over the last 12 months, the Chinese technology giant generated revenue of more than $996 billion with earnings of roughly $129.5 billion. Meanwhile, Palantir's revenue was $3.12 billion with earnings of nearly $571 million. However, Palantir has a higher profit margin -- 18.3% versus Alibaba's 13.1%. Turning to the balance sheets, Alibaba's cash position of $428 billion is much larger than Palantir's $5.4 billion. On the other hand, Alibaba also has a lot more debt -- $248 billion compared to only $244.6 million for Palantir. As a result, Palantir's debt-to-equity ratio of 4.4% is more attractive than Alibaba's ratio of around 22.8%. Growth Alibaba delivered solid growth in its latest reported quarter ending on March 31. Revenue increased by 7% year over year to nearly $32.6 billion. Adjusted earnings jumped 22% year over year to $4.1 billion. However, those numbers pale in comparison to Palantir's growth. Palantir's revenue soared 39% higher year over year in the first quarter of 2025 to $883.9 million. The AI software company's earnings based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) more than doubled to $217.7 million. Its non-GAAP earnings vaulted nearly 70% higher to $334.4 million. Will this disparity in growth continue? Probably, although it could narrow somewhat. Alibaba's AI-related product revenue has achieved triple-digit growth for seven consecutive quarters. The company's AI and cloud businesses have great long-term growth prospects. However, Palantir continues to win new contracts in the government and private sectors. CEO Alex Karp wrote to shareholders earlier this year, "The rush toward large language models, as well as the foundational software architecture that is capable of making them valuable to large organizations, has turned into a stampede." Valuation These two AI stocks' valuations are as different as night and day. Palantir's shares trade at a jaw-dropping premium, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of nearly 278. Alibaba's forward earnings multiple of 14 seems dirt cheap by comparison. Of course, investors should receive a lot more growth with Palantir than with Alibaba. Does this additional growth justify the stark differences in valuations? Not according to analysts surveyed by financial data and infrastructure provider LSEG. Palantir's price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, based on analysts' five-year earnings growth projections, is 4.9. Alibaba's PEG ratio is only 1.09. The reality is that Alibaba looks more attractive regardless of which valuation metric we use. Its price-to-sales ratio is 2.08 versus 126.9 for Palantir. Alibaba's enterprise-value-to-EBITDA is 9.02, compared to 848.9 for Palantir. Better AI stock? Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes that Palantir's market cap will hit $1 trillion within the next two to three years. The company's market cap hovers around $370 billion today. If Ives is right, Palantir is easily a better AI stock to buy than Alibaba. My concern, though, is that Palantir's current growth -- as impressive as it might be -- simply isn't enough to justify the stock's premium valuation. Perhaps the company's growth will accelerate rapidly and dispel my doubts, but that hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, Alibaba dominates the Chinese cloud services market. It's a major player in the country's e-commerce market. The company plans to launch AI glasses to compete against Meta and other rivals. And its stock is a bargain. Based on the facts as they stand right now, I think Alibaba is a better AI stock to buy than Palantir. Do the experts think Alibaba Group is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did Alibaba Group make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,041% vs. just 183% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 858.71%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Keith Speights has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Better Artificial Intelligence Stock: Palantir (PLTR) vs. Alibaba (BABA) was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woodside to assume operatorship of Bass Strait assets in Australia
Woodside has agreed to take over the operatorship of the Bass Strait assets in Australia following an agreement with ExxonMobil Australia (ExxonMobil). This strategic move has the potential to unlock further development of additional gas resources. The Bass Strait assets include the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture (GBJV) and the Kipper Unit Joint Venture (KUJV). Both Woodside and ExxonMobil Australia hold a 50% participating interest in the GBJV and a 32.5% participating interest in the KUJV, with Mitsui holding the remaining 35% participating interest. Natural gas produced from the Bass Strait assets is entirely supplied to the Australian domestic market, currently meeting around 40% of domestic gas demand on the east coast of Australia, including New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. Integrating the operatorship of the Bass Strait assets into Woodside's managed portfolio enhances the company's presence in Australia while leveraging its operational capabilities. Upon completion, Woodside will take over the offshore Bass Strait production assets, the Longford Gas Plant, the Long Island Point gas liquids processing facility and related pipeline infrastructure. Woodside and ExxonMobil's equity interests in the assets, as well as their existing decommissioning plans and provisions, will remain unchanged. Woodside EVP and COO Australia Liz Westcott said: 'Taking operatorship of Bass Strait demonstrates Woodside's continued commitment to meeting Australia's domestic energy demand while maximising the value of existing infrastructure.' As the new operator, Woodside will assume responsibility for asset planning and execution activities, implementing a value maximisation strategy aimed at enhancing production and improving reliability. This strategic initiative integrates Woodside's established global operational capabilities with ExxonMobil's skilled workforce in the Bass Strait, who will be transitioning to Woodside. Furthermore, taking on the operatorship of a larger portfolio of assets in Australia is expected to generate economies of scale and yield more than $60m (A$92.24m) in synergies for Woodside from the Bass Strait, after accounting for transition and integration costs. The agreement also provides flexibility to realise future development opportunities that align with Woodside's capital allocation framework. ExxonMobil Australia chair Simon Younger said: 'After operating the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture for more than 50 years, we are proud to be handing over the reins and transitioning our highly experienced Bass Strait workforce to our valued partner Woodside, a world-class operator. 'We look forward to working with Woodside as it continues to maximise Gippsland Basin production.' Woodside has identified four development wells that have the potential to provide up to 200 petajoules of sales gas to the market. Under the agreement, Woodside can independently pursue these opportunities via the Bass Strait infrastructure, contingent upon further technical development and a final investment decision. This potential production has been identified within the current contingent resource opportunity portfolio. Completion of the agreement is anticipated in 2026, contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions including regulatory approvals. Earlier this month, Perenco acquired the Greater Angostura oil and gas assets in Trinidad & Tobago from Woodside Energy. "Woodside to assume operatorship of Bass Strait assets in Australia" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
22 minutes ago
- Washington Post
The U.S. military is investing in this Pacific island. So is China.
KOROR, Palau — The U.S. military will next year upgrade Palau's main harbor, usually frequented by dive boats full of tourists heading to emerald lagoons, so that American warships can enter the Pacific island nation's narrow channels and dock here. The wharf will be expanded and elevated. There will be a new logistics hub with a warehouse, enabling U.S. Navy ships to refuel, reload and rearm. This is all part of a broader effort to boost the U.S. military's presence in the Western Pacific, allowing for the rapid mobilization of American forces in the event of a conflict involving China. Complicating that plan, however, is a Chinese-owned hotel overlooking Malakal Harbor that U.S. and Palauan officials worry could be used for surveillance. Across Palau, Chinese businesses and developers have leased land near a half-dozen strategic locations where the United States is beefing up efforts to detect and deter China's growing reach into the region, according to intelligence and security documents and interviews with 20 American, Palauan and Taiwanese officials. A months-long Washington Post investigation found that Chinese businesses have leased land or built properties for tourism developments near the port, the airport, a U.S. coastal surveillance outpost and a U.S. 'over the horizon' radar system. (Palauan law doesn't allow foreigners to buy land, but they can lease it for up to 99 years.) These Chinese leases or buildings potentially provide Beijing with not only a bird's-eye view of the increasing American footprint in Palau but also opportunities to disrupt U.S. military activities here, the officials said. Some of the projects have connections to groups allegedly linked to organized crime, according to records obtained by The Post including a U.S. intelligence assessment and parts of a Palauan national security briefing, and officials in both countries are concerned these groups could act as proxies for Beijing, complementing the expansionary goals of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 'The Chinese are very sophisticated,' Palau's president, Surangel Whipps Jr., said in an interview. 'They play the long game. They know exactly what they're doing and so we've got to be smarter.' China, which has the world's largest navy, has been aggressively increasing its influence across the South China Sea and into the Western Pacific, seeking to becoming the predominant maritime power in a region the U.S. has long considered its domain. The location of Palau, a Micronesian archipelago of more than 300 islands east of the Philippines, has long made it strategically valuable. Japan occupied it during the first half of the 20th century, then fought bloody battles with the U.S. here during World War II. Today, Palau is an important link in the Second Island Chain, the string of outposts stretching from Japan through Guam and Micronesia to Indonesia that the U.S. is fortifying to constrain China's expansion. (The First Island Chain includes Taiwan and is closer to China.) The U.S. military, which has broad access in Palau as part of a compact of free association, sees the island nation as a small but key piece of its strategy to quickly disperse forces and project power in the region. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to take control of Taiwan — by force if necessary — potentially involving the U.S. in a military conflict. In the meantime, Beijing has convinced several countries in the region to sever diplomatic ties with the self-governing democracy that China claims as a province. Palau is one of only three Pacific nations that still recognize Taipei over Beijing. Whipps said that soon after he was first elected in 2020, he received a call from China's ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, who offered a 'million' tourists a year to fill Chinese-built hotels — in exchange for Palau's abandoning Taiwan. China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. 'This is a national security issue not only for Palau but also Taiwan and the United States,' said Jessica C. Lee, Taiwan's ambassador to Palau. 'If there is a 'D-Day,' the Chinese will be able to cut cables in Palau, activate devices on rooftops, whatever they can to delay a U.S. response to Chinese aggression.' Beijing has studied U.S. force projection closely and knows that facilities in places like Palau are critical to American readiness, said Abraham Denmark, who was a defense official in the Biden and Obama administrations. 'It's very clear they want to do what they can to disrupt U.S. operations as best they can using whatever means they have available.' Officials say this country of just 17,000 people has seen a surge in violence, drugs and corruption involving Chinese nationals that Whipps claims is designed to pressure Palau to recognize China, something Beijing denies. Whipps has cracked down on foreign, and especially Chinese, influence in Palau. Since his reelection in November, his administration has deported dozens of people, denied more than 150 tourist visas or work permits, and added more than 100 names to its list of undesirable aliens. In all three categories, the majority of people have been Chinese, including some with land leases near strategic sites, records show. Joel Ehrendreich, the U.S. ambassador to Palau, said the pattern of overpriced land leases in strategic but often economically unviable locations fits with Beijing's modus operandi. 'Leasing land is certainly the right of the landowner under Palauan law,' Ehrendreich said. 'But you've got to wonder when you see where the Chinese are doing it, the prices that they're doing it and what they do with the land after they lease it. It just raises a lot of questions, a lot of suspicion.' A document obtained by The Post shows that the U.S. Embassy has asked the Trump administration for more assistance, including a senior U.S. law enforcement official with experience in combating Chinese organized crime and a Drug Enforcement Administration agent to tackle trafficking and corruption, plus a rotation of five U.S. police officers and a pair of prosecutors to handle cases involving Chinese suspects. The State Department said that it couldn't comment on embassy requests but that transnational organized crime linked to China was 'evolving' in the region. 'We've seen the CCP deepen its influence to undermine Pacific regional security, damage economies and endanger citizens,' it said in a statement. Analysts say it's unclear what approach the Trump administration will take to the Pacific. The U.S. DOGE Service canceled the final months of a contract for some U.S. security assistance in Palau. Whipps hopes President Donald Trump will restore and bolster ties. 'Don't cut off your partners,' the Palauan president said. 'We're on the front line.' Roughly 40 miles south of Malakal Harbor sits the island of Angaur. It, too, is in the middle of an American military upgrade. It, too, has been the focus of Chinese interest. The U.S. military has spent the past two years and $100 million clearing 100 acres here for a receiver for its Tactical Multi-Mission Over the Horizon Radar, or TACMOR. The system, which requires transmitter and receiver stations at least 50 miles apart, will enable the U.S. to detect Chinese hypersonic missiles or airplanes that might target U.S. forces in the Second Island Chain to prevent them from aiding Taiwan. In 2010, Palau's government publicly urged the U.S., which was relocating Marines from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, to move them to Angaur. Soon after, Chinese investors started expressing interest in the remote island. Land records show that in 2014, Tian Hang, a longtime Chinese resident in Palau known here as Hunter Tian, signed contracts with four family groups to lease about 250 acres of land, including near Angaur's airstrip and port, for what he said would be a resort. Tian, who declined interview requests, is the president of the Palau Overseas Chinese Federation, which functions as part of the CCP's United Front Work Department promoting state objectives and whose members have given illegal campaign contributions to pro-China politicians in Palau, according to the U.S. intelligence assessment, parts of which were first reported by Reuters. None has been charged. The U.S. and Palau announced the plan for the TACMOR system in mid-2017. A few months later, Tian took prominent Palauans to China to meet with officials, according to the U.S. intelligence assessment and former president Johnson Toribiong, who went on the trip. Tian also launched a China-Palau trade organization and an ill-fated media organization in Palau with ties to Chinese security services, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. In 2018, Tian's deputy in the federation introduced Palau's then president, Tommy Remengesau Jr., to Wan Kuok Koi, a Macao mob boss known as 'Broken Tooth' who served 14 years in prison in Macao for illegal gambling, loan-sharking and attempted murder. Remengesau told The Post he wasn't aware of Wan's background. But it became clear in 2019 when Wan boasted in Hong Kong media of his plans for a Palau casino resort — located in Angaur, it was later revealed — where he would control 'customs, ports and an airport.' Remengesau responded by banning foreigners with criminal histories from coming to Palau. The U.S. Treasury later imposed sanctions on Wan. Previously unreported, however, is the fact that Wan was also interested in leasing land next to a second TACMOR site, a transmitter 60 miles north of Angaur in Palau's Ngaraard state. Alan Seid, a prominent Palau businessman, told The Post that he signed a memorandum of understanding to lease to Wan a plot of land across the road from the Ngaraard transmitter site. Wan promised to pay as much as $15 million but never delivered, according to Seid, who declined to provide a copy of the MOU and said he, too, was unaware of Wan's background. Wan could not be reached for comment. Whipps said it was 'suspect' that Wan, who had been honored by Beijing for his patriotism, had explored leasing land near both TACMOR locations. 'When you begin to see the connections, then you begin to wonder how can the Chinese government say they're not working with organized crime,' the president said. Experts say Beijing selectively uses organized crime groups to further its objectives overseas — something the Chinese government has denied. 'It works for Beijing in two ways,' said Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a Canberra-based think tank. 'They can export their criminal problem, but then they also turn that criminal problem into their front line of influence, basically just to sow corruption and to erode governance in these small island states.' Tian's Angaur leases have expired, and Wan's plan for both TACMOR sites ended when he had to leave the country. But the transmitter site in Ngaraard state, where work awaits an environmental permit, could soon be overlooked by a 275-room Chinese resort. Tian Shuchun (no relation to Hunter Tian) leased 60 acres here in 2015, two years before the TACMOR announcement. But it wasn't until late 2023, shortly after the U.S. military held its first public meetings on the radar, that he registered plans to build the Palau International Grand Hotel, according to local tax records. His company, Great Wall Garments, a women's clothing manufacturer in Tianjin, near Beijing, has branched out into 'high-end hotel resorts' in China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Palau, according to its website. Tian, who declined interview requests, has been a member of the CCP for 46 years and has been awarded several honors, including 'Outstanding Communist Party Member of Tianjin,' according to the Tianjin Small and Medium Enterprises Association, where Tian serves as a deputy director. The association has close ties with the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a key part of China's United Front Work. Tian joined the People's Liberation Army at age 19. When his company hosted an event for PLA veterans in 2022 to promote patriotism and loyalty to the CCP, he told the gathering that he still practiced many PLA habits including 'a hard work ethic,' according to a local government press release. U.S. and Palau officials also worry about Tian's local ties. In January, Palauan authorities busted what they said was a Chinese-language online gambling and scam operation in a hotel owned by the family of Vance Polycarp, the local agent for Tian's hotel project. A dozen people, including eight of Polycarp's employees, were detained, according to court records. Polycarp, who was charged with four misdemeanor labor violations, told The Post that he'd done nothing wrong and that the government was 'overreaching.' In October, six U.S. C-17 transport planes swept down on Palau's Roman Tmetuchl International Airport, part of an exercise simulating scenarios the U.S. could face in Palau in a conflict with China. Hundreds of Army Rangers practiced rapidly securing the airfield before an artillery brigade launched six missiles from High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), all while an electromagnetic warfare squadron provided secure communications. A mile from the western end of the runway, a sign in Chinese and English warns the public to stay out. Atop a hill, workers were finishing the foundations of a 50-room hotel called the Ritzy. According to an analysis by Pacific Economics, a Hawaii-based consultancy, the company building the Ritzy — Horizon Holdings Group — has ties to a Chinese-Cambodian conglomerate — Prince Holding Group — that Chinese officials have linked to transnational crime. In a risk assessment prepared for Palauan authorities, Pacific Economics analyzed records from two commercial databases and found ties — including shared directors across two subsidiaries — suggesting that the two companies are associated. Li Yangkun, Horizon Holding's chairman, told The Post that the links stemmed from a partner's selling a company to the Prince Group in 2017. However, commercial data reviewed by The Post shows that Li's partner, Zhou Bo, continued to serve as a director of the company for at least two years after the sale, alongside Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi. Zhou also served alongside Chen for several years as a director of Prince Bank PLC, a Prince Group subsidiary. Chinese prosecutors have accused Prince Group subsidiaries of luring people to Cambodia to work in online casinos, according to public court records. The CCP's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission has called the Phnom Penh-based conglomerate a 'massive cross-border online gambling corporation,' with officials estimating illicit revenue of $700 million between 2016 and 2024. In response to The Post's questions, Prince Group spokesman Gabriel Tan acknowledged the past links between Zhou and Chen but said Zhou's involvement with the Prince Group ended in 2019. Records show that is when Horizon Holdings was incorporated, also in Cambodia. Tan said the Prince Group has no ties to the Ritzy or Horizon Holdings and 'no operations, investments, development activities, subsidiaries, or partnerships in Palau.' He said that any court cases mentioning the company were 'cases of impersonation' and that 'no executive or employee' has been prosecuted, convicted or 'formally investigated in China or any other jurisdiction.' The conglomerate has maintained its business in China, including several real estate offices that work with Chinese state-owned companies, and is involved in projects in the Belt and Road Initiative, China's global infrastructure investment program, according to local government press releases. Citing Pacific Economics, Palau's National Security Coordination Office warned in a report that the Ritzy's alleged ties to the Prince Group threatened to introduce 'illegal gambling and other illicit activities.' Whipps's government put three people associated with the Ritzy on the undesirable-alien list in April. The only employee still in Palau, a Chinese project manager named Mu Hongyue, insisted the project wasn't linked to the Prince Group and didn't pose any threat. 'It's ridiculous,' he said in late April as he gave Post reporters a tour of the construction site, including what would eventually be a badminton court. 'How can we use this place to attack your aircraft?' But Bryan Clark, a former U.S. Navy officer and an expert in electronic warfare at the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, said a mile would be close enough to launch an unjammable fiber-optic drone or intercept radio communications. 'You just need to find one or two pilots or navigators who aren't on the ball and forget to do the right equipment setup and, boom, you've got an intelligence coup for your country,' he said. The Ritzy isn't the only Chinese development with alleged links to the Prince Group. A project is set to begin in Palau's north near a U.S. coastal surveillance system, a radar with a 75-mile radius. In late 2019, not long after he was in discussions with Wan over the land near the TACMOR site in Ngaraard, Seid was approached about an uninhabited islet he co-owned. He took a group of Chinese businessmen led by a 'Mr. Chen' — who insisted that he wasn't to be photographed, Seid said — to Ngerbelas, where he barbecued freshly speared fish for them. He eventually leased them the island for up to 99 years for $7 million, records show. The Grand Legend International Asset Management Group is now poised to build a luxury resort on Ngerbelas. Palau corporate records show its largest joint shareholder is Chen Zhi, the Chinese-born naturalized Cambodian citizen who heads the Prince Group. A document for the resort filed with the Palauan government and obtained by The Post says that 'Grand Legend is a subsidiary of Prince Real Estate Group.' The website for another Prince Group subsidiary featured a map — now removed — showing a project in Ngerbelas. Tan, the Prince Group spokesman, confirmed Chen's involvement but said that it was only in a 'personal capacity' and that he had not been to Palau. Tan said that Grand Legend was not a subsidiary, that the resort was unrelated to the Prince Group, and that the Prince Group had never positioned developments near U.S. strategic sites in Palau. Above Malakal Harbor in Koror, the upper reaches of the Belmond Hotel are being renovated. Its Chinese owner, Zhang Zhengrong, says it will soon have a rooftop lounge. U.S. and Palauan officials fear it could house electronic surveillance devices aimed at visiting U.S. warships. Zhang scoffed at the idea. 'I'm a simple businessman,' the 35-year-old said in a phone interview. 'I have zero interest in politics. Not in China. Not in Palau.' Zhang said he grew up in China's Fujian province and went into construction after dropping out of school at age 14. He said he went to Palau on vacation in 2019 and liked it so much that he decided to stay and invest. He bought the partly built Belmond for $3 million during the covid-19 pandemic using the proceeds from his construction businesses, he said. According to the Palau national security brief, however, Zhang has ties to the Fujianese mafia — known for its global reach — and his money comes from running online scam operations in Southeast Asia. Zhang denied any involvement in the mafia or scam operations. In December, however, police raided a suspected illegal online gambling and scamming operation in one of his four Palau properties. They arrested one person and several others fled. Zhang said he was merely the landlord. Zhang said he learned of the Belmond from Siegfried Nakamura, a local lawyer whose family owned the hotel. Nakamura was elected to Palau's Senate in November. Nakamura is one of at least three Palauan politicians who allegedly received illegal campaign donations from Zhang, according to the U.S. intelligence assessment. (Foreigners are not allowed to make campaign donations in Palau.) Zhang said that he gave Nakamura $10,000 in cash but that it was for legal services. Nakamura also denied the accusation, which he called 'unfounded, defamatory and false.' It's unclear whether authorities investigated. Neither Nakamura nor Zhang was charged. Zhang's alleged illegal activity, plus the hotel's proximity to the port, gives U.S., Palauan and Taiwanese officials cause for concern. Analysts say the biggest risk is electronic surveillance. That could be monitoring U.S. Navy communications or taking acoustic signatures from U.S. ships that can be used for torpedo targeting, said Clark, of the Hudson Institute. If satellites were disabled — something many military analysts say would be likely in a conflict between the U.S. and China — the hotel could be used to target the port. 'What China does is what we do,' said Clark, 'which is to try to create a bunch of options for later.' Palau is trying to chip away at China's options. In April, Zhang flew from Hong Kong to Koror but was sent back after finding out he'd been added to Palau's rapidly growing list of undesirable aliens. Zhang — speaking, he said, from Thailand — insisted he had zero ties to Beijing, which he said wouldn't need him anyway. 'In a small country like Palau, if China wants to do surveillance, they can do it from anywhere easily,' he said. 'They don't need a hotel with a good location.' Photo editing by Jennifer Samuel. Graphics by Adrián Blanco Ramos. Text editing by Anna Fifield and Peter Finn. Copy editing by Martha Murdock.
