(Beijing) A Chinese-Canadian tycoon is on trial in China, the Canadian government said Monday, five years after he disappeared from Hong Kong during an anti-corruption campaign.
Posted at 6:24 am
A government statement said diplomats are closely monitoring Xiao Jianhua’s trial and are providing unspecified services to members of his family. Further information will not be passed on for reasons of confidentiality.
Xiao Jianhua, the founder of Tomorrow Group, disappeared from a Hong Kong hotel in January 2017 amid a surge in lawsuits against Chinese businessmen accused of various crimes, including corruption. Authorities have never confirmed if he was arrested.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said Monday he was unaware of the situation.
Xiao Jianhua’s disappearance came as the ruling Communist Party stepped up efforts to bring back those wanted in corruption cases from overseas to face justice. This has fueled fears that Beijing may be kidnapping people abroad.
At the time, Chinese police were barred from operating in Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system.
Since then, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration has tightened control over Hong Kong, and he is accused of violating autonomy promised when the territory was handed over to China in 1997.
The ruling party enacted a national security law in 2020 and jailed democracy activists.
In 2015, five people linked to a Hong Kong publisher that sold books criticizing the Chinese leadership disappeared from the territory and reappeared on the mainland.
Before his disappearance, Xiao Jianhua had an estimated net worth of $6 billion, according to the Hurun report assessing Chinese wealth.