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Chinese-born former Australian senator joins Liberal Party

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese-born former Australian Senator Dio Wang has reportedly joined the Liberal Party after Foreign Minister and deputy party leader Julie Bishop endorsed his application at a West Australian state executive meeting.

News Corp reported on Friday that Wang, who was a senator from the now-defunct Palmer United Party (PUP), has sought Liberal preselection for either a state or federal seat in the near future.

Wang lost his West Australian Senate seat at the July election after PUP disbanded, but told reporters back in June that he would continue to hold ambitions to be a politician even if he lost his seat.

According to News Corp, Julie Bishop was happy to endorse Wang as a member of the Liberal Party despite Wang publicly lashing the party for some of its policies when he was with PUP.

Wang publicly criticized Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for calling the nation's historic double-dissolution election, while he also condemned a number of Western Australian MPs for failing to secure a greater share of the nation's goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

According to News Corp however, not all Liberal Party members are happy with the move. State executive member Gordon Thompson said Wang was only "using" the Liberal Party to secure a passage back into the parliament.

Before entering politics, Chinese-born Wang was CEO of Australian millionaire Clive Palmer's mining company Australasian Resources. Endit