Introduction
Zhenya Wang (Chinese: 王振亚; pinyin: Wáng Zhènyà; born 20 January 1981), also known as Dio Wang, is a former Australian senator and civil engineer. He was the CEO of Australasian Resources from July 2010 until 20 June 2014, when he resigned in preparation for his role as Senator for Western Australia (WA). He did not retain his seat at the 2016 double dissolution election recording 0.38% of the WA primary senate vote.
Early life and education
Wang was born in Nanjing, China, where he studied civil engineering at Southeast University.
Migration to Australia
Wang migrated to Australia in 2003, and has been an Australian citizen since 2009. He studied at the University of Melbourne, where he earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Planning and Design (Urban Planning) and Master of Engineering Structures.
Career
Wang was employed by Australasian Resources from 2006.
Political career
Clive Palmer, founder of the Palmer United Party (PUP), owns a 70% share of Australasian Resources, and has provided cash injections to save Australasian Resources from insolvency. Wang resigned as managing director of Australasian Resources before he assumed his Senate seat.
Wang was the lead Senate candidate for the PUP in Western Australia at the 2013 federal election. Wang was announced as having been elected to the Senate, but lost on a recount. Wang's party disputed the result of the recount, citing the loss of over 1,300 ballot papers between the original count and the recount.
After the High Court ordered a fresh 2014 half-Senate election for WA, declaring open the six seats in question, Wang won the fifth vacancy with a 12.3 percent vote, an increase of 7.3 percent. Wang joined the Senate on 1 July 2014.
The PUP won three Senate seats at the 2013 general election and with Wang's election at the WA Senate special election. However Wang's two Senate colleagues deputy Senate leader Jacqui Lambie and Senate leader Glen Lazarus resigned from the party to sit as independents leaving Wang the only PUP Senator and one of two PUP members of the Federal Parliament, the other being party leader Clive Palmer in the House of Representatives.
Controversy
Wang courted controversy in 2015 when, shortly after the 26th anniversary of the massacre, he defended the violent suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests by the government of the People's Republic of China. A few days later Wang spoke again to defend China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.