Waldorf Astoria Hotel Loses U.S. Diplomats After China Purchase, June 18, 2015, Bloomberg Business

Last edited Sun Jun 28, 2015, 06:06 PM - Edit history (1)

"WALDORF ASTORIA LOSES U.S. DIPLOMATS AFTER CHINA PURHASE" (excerpts)

Bloomberg Business

June 18, 2015 by Indira Lakshmanan and Terry Atlas

The new Chinese owners of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel are getting a lesson in troubled Sino-American relations stemming from what the U.S. says are activities by Chinese-based hackers and other forms of electronic espionage.

The U.S. State Department, after decades using the Art Deco luxury hotel as a home base for U.S. diplomats during the United Nations General Assembly, will shift this December to the nearby New York Palace Hotel, said a U.S. official, who confirmed the change reported by the Associated Press.
The shift has been under consideration since Hilton Worldwide Holdings Ltd. sold the midtown hotel in 2014 to Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group Ltd. for $1.95 billion.
The decision hasn't been formally announced and the officials, who spoke on terms requiring anonymity, offered no comment on whether the move was due to concerns about possible Chinese spying.

OPM ATTACK, (U.S. Office of Personnel Management)
More recently, U.S. officials are weighing how to respond to a massive hacking attack they say originated in China and breached U.S. Office of Personnel Management computers, stealing records of millions of current and former federal employees in one of the largest breaches of government personnel data.
U. S. officials cite, among other things, concern that the Chinese might install eavesdropping equipment during the planned renovation of the property, as they have in hotels in China. These concerns were underscored recently by reports that Israeli intelligence has been eavesdropping on the Iran nuclear talks at hotels in Geneva and Vienna.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to say Wednesday whether President Barack Obama will also abandon the Waldorf.

TIGHT SECURITY
The hotel, which has hosted every president since Herbert Hoover and is home to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, has been favored by world leaders and celebrities for its physical security. The Waldorf's structure, which includes 27 public and private elevators, allows for security guards to be posted in the lobby and on the floors of the ambassador's residence and suites used by top officials, as well as at the entrance to the units.
The 1, 232-room luxury hotel was originally built in 1893 by William Waldorf Astor, the only child of financier John Jacob Astor III. The spacious Presidential Suite, which starts at $1,999 a night, has over the years hosted guests including the Soviet Union's Nikita Khrushchev and France's Charles de Gaulle. The suite features furniture donated by U.S. presidents, including a wicker-backed rocking chair from John F. Kennedy and a wooden desk with carved eagle-clawed feet from Dwight David Eisenhower.
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Bloomberg Business, "Waldorf Loses U.S. Diplomats After China Purchase", June 18, 2015 by I. Lakshmanan, Terry Atlas.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-18/diplomats-flee-ny-s-waldorf-astoria-on-china-spying-fears

*Related News:" Waldorf Astoria, Union Reach $159 Million Deal for Severance Payouts", Boston Globe, June 26, 2015.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141129296

Wiki, Waldorf Astoria New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_Astoria_New_York
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Peacock Alley Restaurant



The original hotel's Octagon Room 1893



US Senate Committee hearing for the sinking of the RMS 'Titanic' 1912



Eleanor Roosevelt and the Royal Family of Norway with Princess Juliana



The Khrushchev family and Nelson Rockefeller at the Waldorf Astoria 1959



Marilyn Monroe with Elsa Maxwell at the Waldorf 1957 April in Paris Ball



The classic Waldorf Salad