The Chinese Embassy remained silent again. During the event for the Peruvian-Chinese Brotherhood Day, held today at the Ministry of Culture, he avoided clarifying whether he authorized Zhihua Yang to coordinate with the congressman José Jeríinterim president of Peru, the organization of this celebration, which the head of state did not attend.
Upon direct consultation of Peru21the charge d’affaires of the diplomatic mission, Yi Yuanqing, avoided any statement.
“I understand that Mr. (Zhihua Yang) is a Chinese who has lived in Peru for many years, but this is an event, it is a celebration of two parts…I have no specific comments on that topic…but it is a very important event for both countries,” the Chinese diplomat told this newspaper at the end of the event.
In 2024, the Congress of Peru approved the law that declares February 1 as the Peruvian-Chinese Brotherhood Day.🇨🇳🇵🇪
This year, together with @MinCulturaPewe celebrate this important day for the second time. We organized a Traditional Chinese New Year Fair in… pic.twitter.com/EXlBiFzPoX— Chinese Embassy in Peru (@ChinaEmbPeru) January 30, 2026
Chinese Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Yi Yuanqing remains silent on Zhihua Yang.
He also did not respond to Yang’s role, his closeness to the presidential entourage, or the Chifagate scandal, a case that continues to generate questions and political tensions.
Regarding the meeting between José Jerí and Zhihua Yang, known as ‘Jony’, he added to journalists: “It is an internal matter for Peru. I have no further comments.”
The issue has already led to a vacancy motion and seven motions of censure, which would be heard in the March plenary session, unless 78 signatures are gathered to call an extraordinary plenary session or unless José Jerí himself arranges the call.
PRESIDENT JOSÉ JERÍ WAS NOT IN ATTENDANCE
The president in charge did not attend the celebration of the event of the Peruvian-Chinese Brotherhood Jose JerYo.
The Minister of Culture Alfredo Luna led the celebration of the ceremony, and when asked why the president was not present, he said that “it is due to a work agenda.”
JERÍ DID NOT TELL THE TRUTH IN THE INSPECTION
The company Hidroeléctrica América SAC, owned by the Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang, maintains a million-dollar concession with the State to install an energy plant on the Pachachaca River, in Abancay.
The contract was signed on March 7, 2023 and the company committed to investing $24.4 million, with operations initially scheduled to begin on May 1 of this year.
However, on December 23, 2025, the company presented a letter to the Ministry of Energy and Mines – registered under number 4188671 – requesting a three-year extension for the start of operations, proposing June 15, 2029 as a new date.
The request was made three days before the meeting that the president in charge, José Jeríheld with Yang at the Xin Yan chifa in San Borja, a meeting he attended hooded and which has been widely questioned.
This request was not mentioned by Jerí during his presentation on the 21st of this month before the Congressional Oversight Commission.
In that session, the president denied that his friend’s company had current procedures with the State that could constitute a conflict of interest. He even maintained that Yang’s connections with the public apparatus corresponded to previous years and that there was no relationship to this day.
“From the subsequent information that I have obtained and have been able to gather regarding the entire scenario, Mr. ‘Jony’ does not have any current contracting process with the State that I am aware of,” declared Jerí. He added that the hydroelectric concession began in 2017 and was granted in 2023, denying any type of impact on the process or subsequent decisions.
However, according to the Electrical Concessions Law, failure to start operations may result in the loss of the concession and the letter of guarantee equivalent to 1% of the value of the work, that is, about US$224,000. The extension requested by Hidroeléctrica América SAC is key to avoiding this scenario.
Thus, the fact that Jeri failure to report on this recent procedure—carried out days before his meeting with Yang—raises serious doubts about a possible conflict of interest. Final thrust? For his critics, this is one more element that reinforces the motions of censure and vacancy that loom over the interim president.
THIS MONDAY MINISTERS ATTEND THE CONGRESS
The Ministers of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcio, and from Energy and Mines, Luis Bravomust appear tomorrow, Monday, February 2, at 2 pm, before the Congressional Oversight Commission. The in-person summons will be made in the Francisco Bolognesi Room of the Legislative Palace for the Chifagate case.
Tiburcio will have to explain the unofficially recorded meetings in which he participated with the President of the Republic, José Jeríwith the Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang.
The president himself admitted that he went with the minister to a date at a chifa in the San Luis district, where he was captured by security cameras dressed in a sweatshirt and hood.
The appearance has been interpreted in Parliament as a possible prelude to an interpellation.
Far from being over, Chifagate is just beginning to unfold.
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