Two Chinese travelers holding Marshall Islands passports were denied entry into Palau on February 28.
Cary Yan and Gina Zhou were convicted in 2023 in the United States for conspiring to engage in bribery involving high-ranking officials from the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
According to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Yan and Zhou arrived in Palau via Nauru Airlines from the Marshall Islands.
They were prohibited from staying in the country due to their criminal convictions. The AGO reported that the two attempted to remain in Palau for a few days because Yan was reportedly ill, and they were only transiting to Palau to Taiwan.
However, they were placed on a Friday night flight to Manila and denied entry there. They have been stuck at Manila airport since that time.
The Bureau of Immigration in Manila confirmed that Yan and Zhou were denied entry “under Section 29(a)(3) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 after receiving information about their previous jail sentences abroad for conspiring to bribe officials.“
“Upon being excluded, they were turned over to the airlines, which is scheduled to put them on the next available flight back to their port of origin.”
However, the Bureau of Immigration stated that since their arrival, there has not been a flight available back to the Marshall Islands.
According to the OCCRP article, Palauan authorities denied entry to the couple after it was revealed that they had misrepresented their criminal records.
Furthermore, officials discovered that contrary to their entry immigration form, the couple had already secured accommodations in Palau for several days and had an onward flight scheduled to Manila on March 4 rather than to Taipei.
The article also stated that before flying into the country, the pair had already booked accommodations at Shell Villa in Palau.
According to reports between 2016 and 2020, Yan and Zhou sought to develop a semi-autonomous region within a part of the RMI known as the Rongelap Atoll.
Creating the proposed semi-autonomous region was intended to attract investors to participate in economic and social development projects that Yan and Zhou promised.
“Yan and Zhou offered and provided a series of cash bribes and other incentives to induce RMI legislators to support the RASAR Bill. When, despite their bribes, the initial effort to pass the RASAR bill failed, Yan and Zhou sought, unsuccessfully, to oust the then-President of the RMI, who opposed the bill.
In 2020, after a change in presidential administration, Yan and Zhou renewed their efforts to create the RASAR, continuing to engage in bribery. In March 2020, the RMI legislature passed a resolution endorsing the RASAR, influenced by legislators who received bribes and other incentives from Yan and Zhou, as noted in a 2023 US Department of Justice press release. (By: Bernadette Carreon)