INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The bank's invite was confirmed by two people who said the dinner was for clients of the Shenzhen branch.
China's second-largest state-owned bank offered wealthy clients the
opportunity to have dinner with the American president for $150,000 a ticket, spurring a complaint from Donald Trump's re-election campaign
Department of Justice.A branch of China Construction Bank Corp
invited high-net-worth clients willing to pay the ticket price to a May 31 dinner in Dallas, according to an invitation seen by Bloomberg
News and confirmed with bank staff
Chinese participants would have the opportunity to communicate with U.S
"tycoons," take photos with Trump and get his autograph, according to the invitation.While Trump was expected to host a $50,000-a-head
fund-raising dinner with the Republican National Committee in Dallas that night, it's illegal for U.S
political campaigns to accept donations from foreign nationals or from corporations
passports would be eligible to attend.Officials with Trump's campaign and the RNC said they had no knowledge of the Chinese bank's
advertisement before Bloomberg News asked about it
Attorney General Jeff Sessions' office about the solicitation, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified
discussing a potential law enforcement matter. Trump is expected to host a $50,000-a-head fund-raising dinner with the Republican National
(File)A Beijing-based press officer for China Construction Bank didn't immediately respond to questions about the deal Friday
It was unclear to what extent senior bank managers were aware of the invitation or whether the bank had access to tickets.Trade TensionsThe
invitations were circulating in China even as Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping's top economic envoy to discuss a resolution to
the ongoing trade dispute between the world's two largest economies
Some version of the solicitations included references to signs of progress in negotiations and ZTE Corp., the sanctioned Chinese
telecommunications equipment maker promised a personal reprieve by Trump earlier this week."As Sino-U.S
trade frictions have eased recently, Chinese businessmen including representatives from ZTE were invited to Dallas to attend President
Trump's dinner, and thus discuss cooperation and development with U.S
political and business elites," the invitation said
The bank branch in Shenzhen later reissued the invitation Thursday to remove references to trade friction and ZTE.China PriceNotably, the
tickets advertised by the Chinese flier were 200 percent more expensive than those selling to U.S
donors for Trump's Dallas event
The fund-raiser was previously reported by the Dallas Morning News, which obtained U.S
invitations to the event."We do not accept foreign donations of any kind," a Trump campaign official said in a statement, declining to be
"Since it has been brought to our attention, we have notified the appropriate authority about this unauthorized flier."The Construction
Bank's solicitation was confirmed by two people at the bank who said the dinner was a treat for private banking clients of the Shenzhen
branch, and that they've already received some queries from private and state businessmen
The deadline for the registration is May 25 and applicants must hold U.S
visas and go through a background screening process to show they don't have U.S
criminal records.The bank's Shenzhen branch acquired the tickets from a Shanghai-based travel agency, according to a person familiar with
Both the bank and the travel agency earn commissions from the sales, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing internal bank
business.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
