Hunter Biden steps down from board of Chinese company at centre of Trump allegations

Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden, is stepping down from the board of a Chinese company at the centre of unverified allegations of wrongdoing by Donald Trump.

The 49-year-old lawyer and businessman will leave the board of BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company on 31 October, his attorney said in a statement.

The statement went on to say that Mr Biden had not received any profit from his time serving on the board.

This contradicts claims repeatedly made by the president that Hunter Biden had taken up to $1.5 billion out of China as part of his involvement in the country. Mr Trump has called Mr Biden and his father "crooked" over Hunter's business dealings in China and Ukraine, but has so far not been able to produce any evidence for his claims.

Mr Trump is now at the centre of an impeachment inquiry which could remove him from office because of accusations that he pressured a foreign leader – Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky – to dig up or fabricate dirt on the Biden family.

Despite the threat to his presidency, Mr Trump later doubled down, saying not only Ukraine but China should investigate the Bidens for alleged corruption.

According to most polls, Joe Biden is the frontrunner to win the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election, which would pit him directly against Mr Trump.

George Mesires, Hunter Biden's attorney, said his client had done nothing wrong in his business dealings in either China or Ukraine.

He said: "Hunter undertook these business activities independently. He did not believe it appropriate to discuss them with his father, nor did he. Hunter always understood that his father would be guided, entirely and unequivocally, by established US policy, irrespective of its effects on Hunter's professional interests.

"When Hunter engaged in his business pursuits, he believed that he was acting appropriately and in good faith. He never anticipated the barrage of false charges against both him and his father by the president of the United States."

His statement goes on to say that, should Joe Biden be elected president next November, "Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests. In any event, Hunter will agree not to serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign owned companies."

Mr Trump and his family have raised the pressure on Hunter Biden over the past week, seeking to popularise the phrase "Where's Hunter" as if to suggest that he is lying low.

On Saturday the president told reporters: "I think Hunter Biden is a disgrace. You know, the number-one T-shirt selling right now is, "Where's Hunter?" I came up with that one last night."

And on Thursday night Mr Trump's son Eric warmed up the crowd at a rally in Minnesota by trying to repurpose his father's notorious 2016 "Lock her up" chant against Hillary Clinton.

Suggesting Hunter Biden be imprisoned for a crime for which there is so far no evidence, Eric Trump said: "How do you think his son is feeling after embezzling a lot of money? A lot of crookedness, he is not feeling too good. Maybe 'Lock her up' goes to 'Lock him up'.”

After Mr Biden's announcement that he was stepping down from the board of the Chinese company, the president tweeted: "Where’s Hunter? He has totally disappeared! Now looks like he has raided and scammed even more countries! Media is AWOL."