Hunter Biden developed a close working relationship with CEFC China Energy Co. Chairman and majority owner Ye Jianming beginning at the end of 2015. Ye had a number of ties to Chinese military intelligence and his company provided energy to China’s People’s Liberation Army, according to reporting by Breitbart News Senior contributor Peter Schweizer, in his bestselling book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends.
Through Ye, Hunter established a relationship with his associate Patrick Ho, who Hunter Biden called “the fucking spy chief of China” in a phone call.
In his business relationship with CEFC, via Ye and Ho, the Biden scion raked in about $5 million in energy deals, despite having no experience in the East Asian energy industry.
Ho was eventually arrested in New York City on bribery charges by the FBI in November 2017, and when that happened, his first phone call from jail was to James Biden, seeking Hunter. Ye was disappeared by Chinese authorities in 2018.