Conspiracy Thinking 1, Critical Thinking 0
we can’t have nice things in Canada because we are dominated by lazy thinkers who cleave to conspiracy theories and treat nuanced critical thinking like a disease
First of all, the Versante Hotel is not anywhere near the area designated by the Cowichan ruling as having Aboriginal title. It would have taken a few minutes for anyone screaming about the Cowichan ruling affecting the sale of the Versante Hotel to work that one out. Why didn’t anyone think to mention this in Xwitter their outrage and fear-based rant jags? Oh, right, outrage and fear are their own drug and we can’t interrupt the junkies getting their fix, can we?
📸: image from Avison Young via Storeys
map courtesy of City of Richmond interactive map, graphics applied by R. Sukhan in Canva
Do you sense a tone sarcasm and even bitterness in my writing? Fam, I’m tired. The outrage mob exhausts me and tests my patience — it’s a daily occurrence of late. Take a look at the screenshot below, of two headlines.
Do you see the difference? What’s driving the Canadian Press story, I wonder?
Do we detect a bit of narrative management, or just lazy journalism?
To their credit, the authors of the CP article did mention that the Versante isn’t in the Cowichan ruling area. Yet they left they impression that the ruling had a bigger impact on the overall process in the very peculiar Versante Hotel deal than it actually did. The story ties this deal to the deals that Montrose claims fell through because of the Cowichan ruling. The Montrose properties in question lie within the Cowichan title claim area. So, we have apples and oranges here. For those who nerd out in the raw facts contained in primary sources document, you can view the list of documents via Deloitte by clicking the button below, and you can peruse the receiver’s third report by clicking the embedded download link below that.
What’s more, we have a total glossing over of the significant and peculiar details of the Versante Hotel foreclosure, receivership, and sale. Howard Chai gives a detailed and solid account of the details surrounding the Versante deal, both in his substack, The Realist, and in his article, which appeared in both BIV and Western Investor.
A tiny footnote in Chai substack led me to a story in Montecristo Magazine from 2022. The information contained in the Montecristo Magazine story about the owner of Versante Hotel, Michael Mo-Yueng Ching aka Cheng Muyang, led me to do Google search, and Mister Google led me to news articles from many Canadian media outlets, dated 2015, connecting him to alleged crimes in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This piece from Global News is representative of the coverage Ching received. Chinese media in Canada wrote about the Interpol red notice and the investigation. Citing a 2015 SCMP article as their source, The China Daily reported that “the People’s Procuratorate of Qiaoxi district in Shijiazhuang, North China’s Hebei province [sought Michael Ching aka Cheng Muyang] for graft and concealing and transferring illegal gains.” Michael Ching seems like a big deal in PRC intelligence circles, so much so that he appeared on Sam Cooper’s radar. More on that later.
How much of a factor was the Cowichan ruling in this deal?
So, let’s back it up and start from the beginning—the Cowichan ruling giving the Ontario based potential buyer cold feet. The third receiver’s report mentions the potential buyer pulling out and doesn’t give a reason or any other details about the buyer.
Appendix B of the report contains a letter from Colliers, which mentions the potential buyer who got cold feet. Just before the Asset Purchase Agreement became final, a full 11 days after the British Columbia Supreme Court released the ruling Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 BCSC 1490, the buyer pulled out. Remember Versante Hotel doesn’t overlap with the court ordered title area. How much impulsive and hyperbolic reaction about uncertainty of this ruling created more uncertainty? Humans have a mimetic nature, I’ve written about that at length in this publication.
The Collier letter also outlines factors affecting the sale. The specific factors mentioned, combined with “overall market economy uncertainty led to fewer bids than anticipated.
Michael Mo-Yueng Ching aka Cheng Muyang’s “Ongoing Involvement”
Take a look at that list of challenges highlighted in the Collier letter. What’s the first thing on the list? “Ongoing involvement of the owner of the original development in the broader complex.” Think about that. Shortly after the foreclosure of Versante in April 2024, Avison Young listed it for $98 million.
Despite a high level of interest—a Notice of Application dated February 2025 made by Fox Island Development Limited and Advanced Venture Holding Company (the lenders) indicates 47 parties signed confidentiality agreements and 14 parties toured the property—they could secure no sale. Had Michael Ching interfered with the sale of the property? Ching’s antics drew concern, leading lenders to request a conversion of the foreclosure into a receivership.
The Notice of Application details concerning behaviour on the part of Ching, who had refused to pay his staff properly, and cancelled a hotel management contract, intending to manage the hotel himself.
you will find these letters in the appendices of Wen Yong Wang’s affidavit, dated Feb 25, 2025
Ching had failed to report financials transparently, leading lenders to conclude that Ching had been applying hotel funds to his meet his own financial shortfall, as Wen Yong Wang writes in his affidavit, “in light of Mr. Ching’s refusal to provide details of the net income usage, and the Hotel Manager’s information about Ching’s refusal to pay bonuses, I am concerned that Mr. Ching is applying net income generated from the Hotel for his own purposes unrelated to the Hotel’s operation,” (para 22, Wen Yong Wang affidavit, February 25, 2025).
“Fox Island is not aware of any meaningful source of income to the Debtors, other than the income generated from the operation of the Hotel. Fox Island understands that the Debtors are in dire need of cash due to the significant indebtedness to Fox Island and other creditors and also due to other outlays for Mr. Ching’s other project unrelated to the Hotel.
Fox Island understands that: Mr. Ching and his own personal team, and not the Hotel Manager, have full and complete control over the Hotel’s financial operations, including exclusive access to all of the Hotel’s bank accounts; all accounts payable and tax remittances are handled by Mr. Ching and his personal team; and the Hotel Manager’s financial role is limited to presenting bills received by it to Mr. Ching and his personal team for handling.” (para 42 and 43, Notice of Application, February 25, 2025)
Wen Yong Wang’s affidavit dated February 25, 2025 provides further details about Michael Ching’s interference antics. The details point to a deliberate attempt to sabotage the management of the hotel, to compromise its financial position and block any attempt to sell it and enable the lenders to recover their losses. The biggest challenge faced in the process of the Versante foreclosure sale was Michael Ching himself. The Cowichan ruling plays a minor role in this story, it’s a footnote, if that. Confirmation bias is not your friend, reader!
The PRC connection
So, let’s explore the PRC connection. Michael Chang made it into Sam Cooper’s investigative reportage, on November 1, 2023 Sam wrote about Ching.
As part of due diligence, I asked Sam on X to confirm Michael Ching of the Versante Hotel was the Michael Ching of his November 2023 piece; Sam confirmed, replying “if it’s the Richmond hotel, yes that’s the guy. He’s a big deal in PRC intelligence circles, meaning exactly what he’s doing is hard to tell, like Miles Guo over in NYC.” Found in Translation also confirmed it’s the same Michael Ching, noting Ching has several other real estate projects under court order sale, including Kensington Properties in Union Bay on Vancouver Island. FiT also noted that Ching’s daughter Linda, once the marketing director of Versante, now heads a blockchain company called Union X City.
The information about Union X City tells me it’s akin to the smart city technology that the PRC uses. Most of us know about the oppression and persecution of the Uighurs, perhaps less know about the Smart City technology the PRC uses to track and surveil the Uighurs, in Xinjxiang. Anyway, I digress. Suffice it to say that blockchain technology can create robust data ecosystems that can underpin surveillance. Think big brother is watching you, aka the panopticonomy.
The adventures of Michael Mo-Yueng Ching aka Cheng Muyang
So, let’s get back to the star of our show, Michael Mo-Yueng Ching aka Cheng Muyang.
First of all, above I mentioned an Interpol red notice put on Ching. It got removed. As per Scott McGregor, in the Sam Cooper piece, “I want to stress again, that some of those people had Interpol Red Notices put on them by Beijing. And the notices were then removed for some reason. That happens with Kevin Sun. And it happens with Michael Ching. And so that raises, whether the removal of Interpol Red Notices is because the person is now important and useful for Beijing?” Remember, Ching built the International Trade Centre in Vancouver. Never mind that a portion of it failed because Ching defaulted on a loan, triggering foreclosure and receivership.
Second, Ching had very close ties to former Liberal MP Raymond Chan. Ching’s daughter headed the BC Young Liberals, and a group called Tru-Youth connected her to Michael Ching and former Vancouver MP Raymond Chan. A controversy swirled around Ms Ching, who helped raise muchos dineros for the Liberal Party via various means, including cash for access. You can read the story from 2016 in the Vancouver Sun here. There’s a lovely photo of Justin Trudeau with Linda Ching. You can also read about Chan’s involvement, as a key Liberal Party fundraiser, in raising money for the party from individuals connected to the CCP.
Third, Michael Ching’s father was Cheng Weigao, former Communist Party chief of Heinrich. The CCP investigated Cheng Weigao for corruption, prior to expelling him in 2003. You can read a China Daily story about Ching and his father here.
“The son was named by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top graft watchdog, in its investigation report against Cheng Weigao, according to SCMP. The father abused power to help his son grab money and caused huge losses to the state, the report said.” — China Daily, April 30, 2015
The IRB rejected Ching’s initial bid to claim refugee status, citing the allegations made by the PRC. A federal court called the PRC evidence against Ching fuzzy, overturning the IRB ruling and paving the way for Ching’s citizenship. This enabled Ching to sue the SCMP for defamation for their 2015 story.
📸: photo of not yet PM Justin Trudeau with Michael Ching, dated 2013 via Sina News
Note: Cheng Muyang is the Mandarin name for Michael Mo-Yueng Ching
Fourth, Michael Ching has other properties under court ordered sale.
Here’s a petition for foreclosure proceedings regarding Kensington Union Bay Properties filed on September 6, 2024 by Cameron Stephen’s Mortgage. Here is the application for receivership for Kensington Union Bay Properties, dated January 20, 2025. Union Bay Estates Developer Kensington Island Properties1 refers to a “massive development project that was slated to be built over many years, starting with a ‘200 slip marina’ and a residential village, a hotel, and large retail amenities,” according to the blog All Things Union Bay, which the blogger explained, in her piece dated September 2024, that “this development proposal has been stalled for many years as the developer was not able to fulfill promises made to the Union Bay community, and requirements of the CVRD relating to sufficient water supply, and investments in sewage and other public infrastructure.”
In July of this year CHEK News reported on the listing (for sale) of the Union Bay property, noting that the foreclosure, receivership, and sale complicate plans for a sewer extension promised to the community. The resident quoted in the CHEK article, Kathy Calder, has an X account in which she expresses a great deal of disappointment and frustration at Michael Ching for failing to deliver on the much anticipated development project; if you search Calder’s profile for Michael Ching, you can see how the tolerance of financial recklessness and corruption in BC, and in Canada generally, has devastated people’s lives by exploiting communities.
A weird thing I noticed is that Duck Island (Future Development) is listed on the International Trade Centre website. The Versante portion of ITC, a project of Michael Ching, has been under receivership. The Duck Island development refers to the site of the Richmond Night Market. Duck Island seems like a long suffering plan that’s not really gotten off the ground, despite all the spiffy fancy plans promised to the public over the years. The Jingon International Development Group planned a huge waterfront development in Richmond at Duck Island on River Road. No association with Michael Ching, just a sharing of a business address. So, I gather that ITC can refer to the business area, aka Airport Business & Technology Park, or the two remaining towers not affected by foreclosure/receivership.
Anyway, it seems weird to me, these big shot real estate developers concentrated in the same real estate development zone. Also there’s the River Rock Casino, previously investigated for money laundering, connections to mainland China. There’s lots of financial corruption in this neighbourhood, it seems. Maybe we should not make reckless spend-thrifty grandiose dreamers responsible for big important developments which communities need to come into fruition and remaining stable financially. Also, maybe we should have AGs and Crown prosecutors who possess the will to crack down on corruption. Because presently we do not.
So, reader, after all that, how big of a deal do you think the Cowichan ruling really turned out to be for the sale of Versante? Can you see how this ruling sits on a low rung of the ladder of issues British Columbians need to worry about, when it comes to the real estate sector? Rather than blaming the Aboriginal title boogey monster, maybe the outrage junkies could put their pipes down, get some perspective, and look at the wider picture?
I know, it’s such a radical thought, ain’t it?
Thanks for your readership support. I wish you a great Christmas season.
There are a few names for this same project