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  • After NG Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks of UN Rewarding NG For SSN Coverage of Ban Trip

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    After Ng Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks Of UN Rewarding Ng For SSN Coverage of Ban Trip By Matthew Russell Lee, Video and audio UNITED NATIONS, August 18 – Three weeks after the UN bribery verdict of six guilty counts against Ng Lap Seng was delivered by the jury on July 27, on August 16 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his response to the verdict. He scoffed and walked off. Video here. On August 17 Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about trial exhibits it has begun to receive, on Meena Sur and the Global Compact, for first examples. Video here; from the UN transcript here, text below. On August 18, Inner City Press asked Haq about another of the many exhibits, moving closer to home: UN transcript here: Inner City Press: as these exhibits from the Ng Lap Seng trial continue to come in, I wanted to ask you this kind of… I was surprised to see it, because it wasn't, at least the days that I went, presented in the trial. There are documents that show that the office, UN Office of South-South Cooperation, wrote a letter supporting the conference centre in Macau, specifically after South-South News covered a Ban Ki-moon trip. I think they were the only media to cover it, and afterwards, they were congratulated by the Office of South-South Cooperation, and a letter was produced by Mr. Yiping Zhou supporting the conference center. From the document, it appears that the UN system as a whole, whether the Secretary-General knew or not, essentially rewarded positive coverage of this Ban Ki-moon trip with a letter for a conference centre that's now been totally discredited and was not built because it was based on bribery. And I wanted to know, what is the UN's position on this? What is… I know Mr. Yiping Zhou has left, but what was the connection between the South-South News travelling with and covering Ban Ki-moon's trip and this letter that was given to the, the Sun Kian Ip Foundation to build a conference centre in Macau? Deputy Spokesman: Well, I'm not aware of any connection. Regarding concerns about South-South News, we've explained to you at the time what our concerns had been about South-South News and its activities. They are no longer accredited, and the Office of South-South Cooperation, as you know, had undergone different reforms under its new leadership, and I believe they've been in touch with you about that. Inner City Press: My question really at this point goes to the Secretariat, if you see what I'm saying, because the… the activity of South-South News that UNDP's [United Nations Development Programme] Office of South-South Cooperation was rewarding with this letter was coverage of the Secretary-General's trip. So was this done with no knowledge by the Secretariat… by the Secretariat? Deputy Spokesman: We, we don't, we don't "reward" coverage of trips by Secretaries-General. I mean, there are many trips. Many, many outlets cover them. Deputy Spokesman: If they were all getting rewarded for them, that would be lots and lots of rewards to hand out. Have a good weekend, everyone. From August 17: Inner City Press: now that the Ng Lap Seng verdict has been rendered, Inner City Press has been obtaining the exhibits. And I wanted to ask you, because, even going back and looking at the audit, several things were not solved. Number one, there’s now specific emails involving current DGACM (Department of General Assembly and Conference Management) employee Meena Sur to Francis Lorenzo regarding the insertion of the name Sun Kiang Ip Group into a GA (General Assembly) document, that’s referenced in the audit. Many people say Mr. [Ion] Botnaru retired. That’s why nothing was ever done. I guess what I want to know is, what’s been done? Is there some explanation, again, of a current UN official having worked on the insertion of this company name into a GA document improperly? Deputy Spokesman: Regarding the general issue, without ge

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    After Ng Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks Of UN Rewarding Ng For SSN Coverage of Ban Trip By Matthew Russell Lee, Video and audio UNITED NATIONS, August 18 – Three weeks after the UN bribery verdict of six guilty counts against Ng Lap Seng was delivered by the jury on July 27, on August 16 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his response to the verdict. He scoffed and walked off. Video here. On August 17 Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about trial exhibits it has begun to receive, on Meena Sur and the Global Compact, for first examples. Video here; from the UN transcript here, text below. On August 18, Inner City Press asked Haq about another of the many exhibits, moving closer to home: UN transcript here: Inner City Press: as these exhibits from the Ng Lap Seng trial continue to come in, I wanted to ask you this kind of… I was surprised to see it, because it wasn't, at least the days that I went, presented in the trial. There are documents that show that the office, UN Office of South-South Cooperation, wrote a letter supporting the conference centre in Macau, specifically after South-South News covered a Ban Ki-moon trip. I think they were the only media to cover it, and afterwards, they were congratulated by the Office of South-South Cooperation, and a letter was produced by Mr. Yiping Zhou supporting the conference center. From the document, it appears that the UN system as a whole, whether the Secretary-General knew or not, essentially rewarded positive coverage of this Ban Ki-moon trip with a letter for a conference centre that's now been totally discredited and was not built because it was based on bribery. And I wanted to know, what is the UN's position on this? What is… I know Mr. Yiping Zhou has left, but what was the connection between the South-South News travelling with and covering Ban Ki-moon's trip and this letter that was given to the, the Sun Kian Ip Foundation to build a conference centre in Macau? Deputy Spokesman: Well, I'm not aware of any connection. Regarding concerns about South-South News, we've explained to you at the time what our concerns had been about South-South News and its activities. They are no longer accredited, and the Office of South-South Cooperation, as you know, had undergone different reforms under its new leadership, and I believe they've been in touch with you about that. Inner City Press: My question really at this point goes to the Secretariat, if you see what I'm saying, because the… the activity of South-South News that UNDP's [United Nations Development Programme] Office of South-South Cooperation was rewarding with this letter was coverage of the Secretary-General's trip. So was this done with no knowledge by the Secretariat… by the Secretariat? Deputy Spokesman: We, we don't, we don't "reward" coverage of trips by Secretaries-General. I mean, there are many trips. Many, many outlets cover them. Deputy Spokesman: If they were all getting rewarded for them, that would be lots and lots of rewards to hand out. Have a good weekend, everyone. From August 17: Inner City Press: now that the Ng Lap Seng verdict has been rendered, Inner City Press has been obtaining the exhibits. And I wanted to ask you, because, even going back and looking at the audit, several things were not solved. Number one, there’s now specific emails involving current DGACM (Department of General Assembly and Conference Management) employee Meena Sur to Francis Lorenzo regarding the insertion of the name Sun Kiang Ip Group into a GA (General Assembly) document, that’s referenced in the audit. Many people say Mr. [Ion] Botnaru retired. That’s why nothing was ever done. I guess what I want to know is, what’s been done? Is there some explanation, again, of a current UN official having worked on the insertion of this company name into a GA document improperly? Deputy Spokesman: Regarding the general issue, without ge

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    After NG Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks of UN Rewarding NG For SSN Coverage of Ban Trip

    Uploaded by

    Matthew Russell Lee
    After Ng Bribery Conviction, ICP Asks Of UN Rewarding Ng For SSN Coverage of Ban Trip By Matthew Russell Lee, Video and audio UNITED NATIONS, August 18 – Three weeks after the UN bribery verdict of six guilty counts against Ng Lap Seng was delivered by the jury on July 27, on August 16 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his response to the verdict. He scoffed and walked off. Video here. On August 17 Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about trial exhibits it has begun to receive, on Meena Sur and the Global Compact, for first examples. Video here; from the UN transcript here, text below. On August 18, Inner City Press asked Haq about another of the many exhibits, moving closer to home: UN transcript here: Inner City Press: as these exhibits from the Ng Lap Seng trial continue to come in, I wanted to ask you this kind of… I was surprised to see it, because it wasn't, at least the days that I went, presented in the trial. There are documents that show that the office, UN Office of South-South Cooperation, wrote a letter supporting the conference centre in Macau, specifically after South-South News covered a Ban Ki-moon trip. I think they were the only media to cover it, and afterwards, they were congratulated by the Office of South-South Cooperation, and a letter was produced by Mr. Yiping Zhou supporting the conference center. From the document, it appears that the UN system as a whole, whether the Secretary-General knew or not, essentially rewarded positive coverage of this Ban Ki-moon trip with a letter for a conference centre that's now been totally discredited and was not built because it was based on bribery. And I wanted to know, what is the UN's position on this? What is… I know Mr. Yiping Zhou has left, but what was the connection between the South-South News travelling with and covering Ban Ki-moon's trip and this letter that was given to the, the Sun Kian Ip Foundation to build a conference centre in Macau? Deputy Spokesman: Well, I'm not aware of any connection. Regarding concerns about South-South News, we've explained to you at the time what our concerns had been about South-South News and its activities. They are no longer accredited, and the Office of South-South Cooperation, as you know, had undergone different reforms under its new leadership, and I believe they've been in touch with you about that. Inner City Press: My question really at this point goes to the Secretariat, if you see what I'm saying, because the… the activity of South-South News that UNDP's [United Nations Development Programme] Office of South-South Cooperation was rewarding with this letter was coverage of the Secretary-General's trip. So was this done with no knowledge by the Secretariat… by the Secretariat? Deputy Spokesman: We, we don't, we don't "reward" coverage of trips by Secretaries-General. I mean, there are many trips. Many, many outlets cover them. Deputy Spokesman: If they were all getting rewarded for them, that would be lots and lots of rewards to hand out. Have a good weekend, everyone. From August 17: Inner City Press: now that the Ng Lap Seng verdict has been rendered, Inner City Press has been obtaining the exhibits. And I wanted to ask you, because, even going back and looking at the audit, several things were not solved. Number one, there’s now specific emails involving current DGACM (Department of General Assembly and Conference Management) employee Meena Sur to Francis Lorenzo regarding the insertion of the name Sun Kiang Ip Group into a GA (General Assembly) document, that’s referenced in the audit. Many people say Mr. [Ion] Botnaru retired. That’s why nothing was ever done. I guess what I want to know is, what’s been done? Is there some explanation, again, of a current UN official having worked on the insertion of this company name into a GA document improperly? Deputy Spokesman: Regarding the general issue, without ge

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    From: Yiping Zhou

    To: Ambassador
    Sent: 2/3/2015 6:54:09 PM
    Subject: RE: Honduras Coverage
    Attachments: letter-to-Lorenzo-Expo-2015.pdf

    Dea r Am bassa do r, (, rea t job cove rin g th e S(, 's v isit. W e shou ld do m o re fo r th e SC, and oth er head s of UI\J o rgan espe ci ally
    also for ou r UND P Ad mini st rato r Helen Clari<. Pl ease fin d rny lette r of suppo rt in respo nse t o a lo ng-sta nd ing request of th e
    68th PG A.

    Yipi11g Zhou
    Envoy o'fthe Secreetary-Generat on
    South-South Cooperation and Director

    l!11 itllKII Natii:::m111 C'.lffice for South-South cooM ~r altion


    304 E. 45th Street, ff-12'14
    New York, NY '100'17
    Tel: +1 (212) 900-6392
    Fax: +1 (212) 906-6352
    Email: yiping.zhou@undp.org
    http://u c.undp.org

    From: Ambassador [mailto:florenzoun@gmail.com]


    Sent: Friday, January 16, 2015 12:08 AM
    To: Yiping Zhou
    Subject: Fwd: Honduras Coverage

    Dear yiping enclose see the first report of our coverage of the trip of the SG to El Salvador.

    http ://www.southsouthnews.com/ south-south-news/ ssn-features/448-un-coverage/un-inain-bodies/3 564 7-ban-ki-


    moon-kicks-off-central-america-tour-in-honduras

    HE. Francis Lorenzo


    President South-South News
    Direct 646-648-1136 / Ofiice 212-644-8789
    Fax 212-644-7985

    florenzoun@gmail.com
    florenzo@southsouthnews.com
    www.southsouthnews.com

    0000005148
    Page 1 of 2
    2 Feb:rua,ry 2Q15
    H.E. Ambassador Ftancis Lorenzo
    }'=>resident of Sun k.Jal'.I IP Group Foundation
    Ptesident of South-South News
    SS5 2l!d Avenue, One Da_gfiatlllnarSJokl Plaza, 48tbiF}ot:rr
    NewYork,.NY l0:017 . .

    Dear Ambassador Locenz-0,


    I 1-efettuthe lettetdated 24 februaty 2012 from tbe Perm$ientRepresn(ative of Antigua arnd Barln1da tQ
    the UN H,E. Ambassf,l4orJohn .Ashe addrt}Sse<i to. th~Unite.d Nations Secret(l!'y,.,QenernJ (GA<document
    .A/~6/748)1 onthe.laurt9hJng.ofthe(lloh~J . 'Bl1$i11ess11111hal:Qt,.P.erman<~lltExp<i mtd . Meeth1g.Gentre.with{b1;:
    s11pport offhe P~11nrutj11t fylisgI9p.sJ(1Jhe1JN ofAntigim atld .Barbuda, Bi1.ngh1des1i~ Benin, Cape .Verde.
    Comoros, Kenya, the R~p\1blic 9f Moldova ai:td Jajiki,\\tan, the Ofi'ic-e Qfthe Secretary-<}ermral's Special
    A,dy~CJt pn Africa, tihe World Tq11ril>\Il Qrgal'liiation. l.fud the lJ'N l-Hin1an S1;1ttleti:iebts Pi"ogi.'lmme (UN
    ~:~JfJf aJ:{:: ~~ra:s:;~~::\~~:;rl::tj!:i~\rttaf~~ti!:1;1c~,;:;~:t:fs~~::~;:
    r2tthf;~i::::1:c:;ttitt;:~~r;;1::~:t~t:ttrrr:;0i~:::n:~:11aiJ:::it ~01!ti;:J:~~at~:
    representatlve for tl~e n:pJm:nentadp:n of the; pe:rrna:n1t Expo ahd M~~g C@tre. Wt' the cptmJtie!l Qftbe
    1

    t1iangulat Qt,:e1:-ati<>11: .Refetence i~)tlso 1i1acle tq.yotit lettet dated 5 J11~ 201$, copi4toth.Pr-siclentoft11e
    pgtn. Sessi()tilJN Gener~I.i\?semblyHigh-level.Cnmritt~e. on.south-South .Cpoperation, intega.rd.tqthe.same
    m~ittt, Since then, r~1vant United Na:fions agencies a:nd M,et:nl?ex Stat!?,t;, $pecJaI]y Jlle Presiijent of Jhe6$1"
    ss$k>n of the .Gneral .AssemblytlJ.Et . Jqhn.Aslle, . hay,e . be,en . callii:ug upqn .myoff1ce . t9 . st~p.uptheeffortstq
    ::;4pporuhe {ly lttiplemeJ)t,ltkm of the initiative, in patticular, tbe Pennan~ntE~po and Meeting Centre in
    MtiC:llO.

    It is a~itt$t !be al)oyyJback;grotrndtha<t we wotHd like to strongly -s upport the develp,pment ofthe Permanent
    Sout!H5outh Expo M<i Meiting Cettter by Sun Kian lp Group Foum:mtiou and Soutli;South News:. Should
    this p1'4:ject b~ w-elcom:ed.and suppQ:tted by fetevanl alithoriti~s of Macao SAR {'ind ~ ce:ntral Government
    lnaei]i:tr,g,. this would then.-beco:me lJNOSSCs first and:only South.:...quuth global proji:r(:tinvolving Stm Kian
    iP Grop f-04ti4a-tion r,i1td So\lth~South .New&, wt; thei'.efore very 111uch look. forward tts. early to
    irr1plerilentation. With,this in mind, We would like to invitt:"l the SKIG Foundation and its South-South News
    to ccmsider h,o$ti;ng the. United Nations Global SouthSbuth Development Exp~>201S and the 2()15 World
    Alliance of Cities Against Poverty (WACAP) global foruritt

    Sincerely yours~

    ~ :--+.. ...,i,n.. ~:<


    nmtZ 3>
    'f!tiN9yof1hfilSec; . tmy-Oeneta1011 South..s_
    ctuth
    Cooperation and Director
    United Nations Office for Soutl.r-Sputh Coopenrtit111

    CC: fLE. John A~he, Presfrlentofthe 681hSessio11nftbc U11itedNMiorisGeperal Assembly


    CC: H.R David Ng~ Chairman of Sun Kia:nJP Group F1.1undatiott

    0000005149
    Page 2 of 2

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