Chinese Name: 金港大酒店
Location: Ochheuteal Beach, Sangkat Buon, Sihanoukville, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia.
- Tang Kung (គួង តាំង)
- Chen Yange (陈言各)
- Jing Kan Co., Ltd. (金港公司有限公司)
What Do We Know about Jingang Hotel?
Located off Ochheuteal Beach, the US$25-million Jingang Hotel (金港大酒店, or Jing Kan Hotel in Khmer) complex includes the hotel, event halls, and office buildings. A 2018 ground-breaking ceremony for the hotel was attended by Lieutenant General Hun Manet, son of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Also in attendance were Cambodian tycoon Kith Meng, Preah Sihanouk Province police chief Chuon Narin, and Preah Sihanouk provincial gendarmerie commander Heng Bunty.
In May 2022, the hotel was subject to a week-long police operation that was described by the authorities as an ‘administrative measure’ targeting illegal Vietnamese immigrants. However, reporting by Voice of Democracy (VOD) and social media posts by people inside revealed there was more to the story. Social media posters told how they had been tricked into coming to Sihanoukville, and that the police and the Vietnamese Embassy had helped to rescue them. VOD identified around a dozen such posts, some showing people waiting in the compound courtyard with their luggage. 203 people were taken from the compound by immigration police on 29 April and deported on 1 May. During the process of reporting the story, one journalist was detained by police for taking photos of the compound from the road. When questioned, the provincial police chief and provincial government spokesman played the incident down as a normal immigration raid.
Local venders told VOD that the compound had become increasingly closed off in recent years, and that outsiders were eventually not able to go inside. The vendor told reporters that the police action occurred after dozens of people in the compound armed themselves, overpowered the security, and escaped. Similarly, on 22 April a Chinese-language social media account reported that the day before over 30 Vietnamese people armed with knives rushed the gates and hacked two local security guards in the process. The report quoted an ‘insider’ as saying many companies operate within the compound, with most workers coming from Vietnam and the owner of the company involved in this incident coming from China. The insider said that some Vietnamese worked there willingly, whereas many were deceived into the park, held against their will, and forced to work for fraud operators. After the incident, the police arrived quickly and surrounded the compound, after which the processing and repatriation operation began.
When reporting the story, VOD sought information from local officials, with minimal success. The village chief in charge of the area had limited information: ‘We don’t know what business they were doing in their buildings because we cannot get inside their building … We don’t know what’s inside there. We never even got in. … It was full of security guards. … Even when we asked them to go in, they wouldn’t let us in despite my position.’ Another village official told VOD: ‘These people are in debt … Their bosses locked them from going outside, afraid that they would leak information. … There are many places.’
Although the police and local authorities played down the significance of the raid in April, it emerged later that arrests had been made in connection to illegal detention at the compound. In August, the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court issued a statement saying that a Cambodian kickboxer had been arrested for involvement in illegal detention at Jingang Hotel on 21 April (just over a week before the 203 people were removed). According to the court, a room was found on the second floor of a building where two victims were confined. The Cambodian man who was arrested was allegedly guarding that room to prevent the captives from escaping. In total, five people were arrested and held without bail. Police seized electric batons, a gun, handcuffs, and found a chair with chains cemented into the ground. A Chinese man was arrested for possession of the firearm, which he said he got from the Cambodian kickboxer.
After many months of denying that illegal confinement was happening in Cambodian scam compounds, a nationwide crackdown on ‘illegal’ gambling commenced in August 2022. This resulted in raids of various gambling locations, including small local gambling rooms and a handful of major compounds that were known to be running illegal online gambling and/or scam operations. Soon after, official statements on the online compounds shifted drastically, and officials began to admit that human trafficking and detention were happening, and that as many as 100,000 people may be involved in ‘illegal gambling’ (officials still appear reluctant to acknowledge that many operations are in fact conducting online fraud). In Sihanoukville, 10 compounds were raided, while others were tipped off that raids were coming, or simply told to stop operating. An exodus of workers from Sihanoukville occurred, with reports that some people moved to compounds in other parts of the country.
In September 2022, with raids ongoing in Sihanoukville, one location within the Jingang development was raided. However, an announcement from the provincial government described the location as ‘Pao Yong’ (Baorong, 宝荣, in Chinese), suggesting the building has been sold or leased by Jingang to another company.
The project also ran into problems during construction, and in 2019, local media site Tnaot reported that 100 Cambodian and Chinese construction workers blocked the road near the project demanding that the construction contractor pay their wages.
Which Actors and Companies Have Been Linked to Jingang Hotel?
Media reports describe the project developer variously as Cambodia Jingang Group (柬埔寨金港集团) and Jingang Company (金港公司). The company’s official name is Jing Kan Co., Ltd. (following the Khmer pronunciation of the company name). The individuals linked to this company are:
- Tang Kung (គួង តាំង), chairman of the board of directors (Cambodia)
- Chen Yange, director (Fujian)
- Kwok Siu Wai, director (Guangdong)
- Lin Yizhang, director (Fujian)
- Luo Jiazeng, director (Yunnan)
- Wang Yunpeng, director (Fujian)
Tang Kung is a Cambodian tycoon and leads the Tang Kung Group conglomerate, which has interests in real estate development and digital payments, among other industries. He was present at the 2018 ground-breaking ceremony of the hotel, where he said it would respond to the growing volume of tourism to the city. Tang Kung is linked to over 25 companies in Cambodia. One of these companies is Maritime City Co., Ltd. which includes a Chinese-born naturalised Cambodian called Deng Pibing (邓丕兵) as one of its directors. Deng is the founder and chairman of Zhengheng Group, which has been linked to illegal detention and scam operations in Koh Kong (see Long Bay profile here) and Sihanoukville (see Zhengheng New Energy profile here). Tang Kung was previously a Chairman at Maritime City, but stepped down in February 2022, according to company registration records.
A report on the 2018 hotel ground-breaking ceremony from 58.cam mentioned that ‘shareholder’ Chen Yange (陈言各) was in attendance. On that occasion, he said that the project was the result of cooperation with investors from Kunming, China. A man named Chen Yange from Fujian received Cambodian citizenship in 2018. The chairman of the Cambodia Ningde Chamber of Commerce (柬埔寨宁德商会) is also named Chen Yange, and Ningde is a city in Fujian. No information could be found on the other directors.
Location of Jingang Hotel
Links to Other Compounds, Companies, and Individuals
The director of Jingang, Tang Kung, also has business associations with Deng Pibing. Deng is the founder and chairman of Zhengheng Group, which has been linked to illegal detention and scam operations in Koh Kong (see Long Bay profile here) and Sihanoukville (see Zhengheng New Energy profile here).
Jingang Hotel in the News
2022
19 September: Huang, Yan 黄岩. ‘一天内西港再有3家园区被查 [Three More Parks in Sihanoukville Were Investigated in One Day].’ 今日柬闻 [Cambodia News Today]. Link.
Update on ongoing raids of compounds in Sihanoukville, including the ‘Pao Yang’ building, located within the original Jingang development.
16 August: Mech, Dara. ‘Former Kun Khmer Boxer Faces Charges in Sihanoukville Compound Raid.’ Voice of Democracy. Link.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court issues statement regarding case of Cambodian kickboxer arrested in connection with illegal detention of individuals at Jingang Hotel in April 2022. Friends of the kickboxer protest his innocence online.
11 August: ‘អ្នកនាំពាក្យសាលាដំបូងខេត្តព្រះសីហនុ បំភ្លឺករណីចាប់ខ្លួនអតីតកីឡាករ ជិន រ៉ា ពាក់ព័ន្ធបង្ខាំងមនុស្ស និងកាន់អាវុធខុសច្បាប់ [Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court Spokesperson Explains Chin Ra Arrest Case].’ Koh Santhepheap. Link.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court issues statement regarding case of Cambodian kickboxer arrested in connection with illegal detention of individuals at Jingang Hotel in April 2022.
11 August: ‘拳击手参与拘禁中国人被捕后喊冤 西港法院：他看守在拘禁2名受害者的房间门口 [The Boxer Who Participated in the Detention of Chinese People Complained to the Sihanoukville Court After Being Arrested: He Was Guarding the Door of the Room Where Two Victims Were Detained].’ 柬中时报 [Cambodia-China Times]. Link.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court issues statement regarding case of Cambodian kickboxer arrested in connection with illegal detention of individuals at Jingang Hotel in April 2022.
4 May: Mech, Dara and Sen Nguyen. ‘Behind Closed Gates: 200 Vietnamese Quietly Removed From S’ville Compound.’ Voice of Democracy. Link.
Reporters visit Jingang Hotel after reports of a police operation and social media posts from Vietnamese captives indicating that they were to be rescued by police and Vietnamese Embassy.
22 April: ‘30多个越南人砍翻园区保安夺命而逃，导致200多越南网投人员即将被遣返？ [More Than 30 Vietnamese Jumped Over the Security Guards in the Park and Fled, Causing More Than 200 Vietnamese Online Investment Personnel to Be Repatriated?].’ 阿龙闯荡记 [A-Long’s Journey]. Link.
2019
31 March: ‘កម្មករសំណង់កាស៊ីណូជីងកាង មានទាំងជនជាតិចិន និងខ្មែរ ប្រមាណ១០០នាក់ បានប្រមូលផ្តុំគ្នាបិទផ្លូវមិនឲ្យឆ្លងកាត់ ដើម្បីតវ៉ាទាមទារឲ្យអ្នកម៉ៅការសំណង់បើកលុយជំពាក់ថ្លៃកម្លាំងពលកម្ម! [Around 100 Construction Workers from Jing Kang Casino, Both Chinese and Cambodian, Gathered to Block the Road to Protest, Demanding That the Construction Contractor Pay the Labour Debt!].’ Tnaot. Link.
Protesters gather and block road outside Jingang Hotel demanding unpaid wages be paid in full.
