Epstein Files Suggest Systematic China Influence Operation Through Lord Mandelson

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/7150963

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As British police launch a criminal investigation into Lord Peter Mandelson for allegedly leaking market-sensitive government information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during the 2008-2010 financial crisis, a comprehensive review of newly released documents from the same period reveals a potentially deeper concern: Epstein’s systematic efforts to forge ties between Beijing’s Communist Party elite and British politicians and financiers.

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Material already publicly disclosed under the Epstein Transparency Act reveals the Mandelson-Epstein communications as a striking echo of an existing China business influence scandal involving Epstein and JP Morgan Chase executive Jes Staley.

Together, they suggest Epstein was encouraging—if not orchestrating—a strategy to position former British officials as bridges to China’s Communist Party elite, raising questions about whether both the current Starmer government and the prior Gordon Brown government were exposed to compromised advice on China policy.

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In an email to Jeffrey Epstein dated April 16, 2011, Mandelson wrote:

“I appreciate your advice. But I am starting in political world, moving to financial. Learning. Making contacts. Establishing new credentials and a business platform. Some Chinese want deals (should be able to offer that in due course). Some have deals already but need hand holding. Some want to put money into funds. CICC retain us cos think we have something to offer Chinese. Henry K says we also need to become go-betweens for those with commercial disputes.”

“Henry K” appears to refer to Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State widely regarded as perhaps the most influential Western leader of the past half-century in forging elite ties between Washington and Beijing.

The "CICC" reference is to China International Capital Corporation, a Beijing-based investment bank with close ties to the Chinese government and state-owned enterprises — effectively, in China's party-state system, a massive foreign investment bridge that comes under Chinese Communist Party guidance.

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