Peru's interim president, José Jerí, is facing potential impeachment after opposition lawmakers announced plans to remove him over undisclosed meetings with Chinese businessmen in Lima's Chinatown. The scandal, dubbed 'Chifagate', has sparked a political crisis just months before April elections.
Jerí, 39, who took office in October after predecessor Dina Boluarte was forced out, denied wrongdoing during a congressional oversight committee hearing on Wednesday. He claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign designed to destabilise the country, stating, 'It could be understood to be a trap.'
The controversy centres on two meetings captured on video: one at a Chinese restaurant (chifa) and another at a shuttered shop. Both involved Chinese businessman Yang Zhihua, whom Jerí calls 'Johnny', and a second Chinese citizen, Ji Wu Xiaodong, who is accused of belonging to an illegal timber-trafficking network and had been under house arrest.
Public prosecutors have launched an investigation into the meetings, which were not on Jerí's official agenda. The scandal comes amid US-China rivalry for influence in Latin America, where China is Peru's main trading partner and a major investor, including the Cosco Shipping Ports deepwater port in Chancay, operational since November 2024.
Jerí, whose approval rating stands at about 44% according to recent polls, has refused to resign, telling lawmakers, 'I will not resign, because that would imply that I had done something wrong, which is not the case.' The impeachment motion adds to Peru's political instability, which has seen seven presidents since 2018.
