Xiao Jianhua: Chinese language-Canadian tycoon faces trial in China with out consular entry, embassy says

Billionaire financier Xiao Jianhua, identified for his shut connections to a few of China’s strongest political households, vanished in 2017 after he was seized by Chinese language safety brokers from his room on the 4 Seasons lodge in Hong Kong and brought to mainland China.

The Canadian Embassy stated consular officers are monitoring Xiao’s case intently and offering consular providers to his household, although it didn’t verify the trial date.

“Canada made a number of requests to attend the trial proceedings of Canadian citizen, Mr. Xiao Jianhua. Our attendance was denied by Chinese language authorities,” the embassy stated.

Citing the embassy, Reuters beforehand reported Xiao’s trial was on account of start on Monday.

Xiao’s extrajudicial abduction got here amid a broader crackdown on corruption launched by Chinese language chief Xi Jinping, which has snared a slew of senior officers and executives at large Chinese language firms.

Since then, Xiao has not been seen in public. Chinese language authorities haven’t disclosed the fees in opposition to him or some other particulars of his case.

Xiao was certainly one of China’s richest males and managed the Tomorrow Group, a large holding firm with stakes in banks, insurers and property builders.

In accordance with Hurun, which analyzes Chinese language wealth, Xiao had a internet value of $6 billion and ranked thirty second on its 2016 wealthy listing, a league desk equal to the Forbes listing.

In February 2017, an individual conversant in the kidnapping advised CNN there was a small scuffle on the Hong Kong 4 Seasons lodge between two dozen Chinese language safety officers and Xiao’s personal safety element, which usually numbered about eight bodyguards per shift. The supply requested to stay nameless due to the politically delicate nature of the case. Xiao has not been seen in public for the reason that incident.

Chinese language Overseas Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated he was unaware of the scenario when requested about Xiao’s trial at a information convention on Monday.

Who’s Xiao Jianhua?

A Canadian citizen born in China, Xiao was certainly one of a lot of Chinese language tycoons who had moved to Hong Kong and brought up residence in non-public residences on the 5-star 4 Seasons lodge throughout Xi’s crackdown on company extra.

Xiao’s disappearance despatched shockwaves by Hong Kong’s elite enterprise neighborhood, the place it was extensively interpreted as a sign the town was not past the attain of the mainland’s safety equipment.

It additionally stoked wider fears regarding the erosion of the town’s freedoms, as assured underneath the “one nation, two techniques” coverage agreed to as a part of Britain’s 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China.

Xiao’s case has drawn comparisons with Lee Bo, a bookseller and British passport holder who disappeared from Hong Kong in 2015 and later turned up in Chinese language custody. 5 booksellers went lacking that yr, all of whom had been concerned with writer Mighty Present and its store Causeway Bay Books, which bought gossipy titles about China’s elite.

These disappearances came about earlier than Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in 2019, which had been initially triggered by a controversial extradition invoice that proposed permitting Hong Kong to switch fugitives within the metropolis to mainland Chinese language courts.

The federal government ultimately suspended the invoice to quell mass protests earlier than Beijing imposed a sweeping nationwide safety legislation over the town in 2020. The legislation, which extends Beijing’s direct management over the town, grants mainland officers the facility to “train jurisdiction” over circumstances that “jeopardize nationwide safety.”

The legislation criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with overseas powers, and carries with it a most sentence of life in jail.

Critics say the legislation has been used to silence all dissent in opposition to the Hong Kong authorities, which has repeatedly defended the laws, saying it returned the town to stability.

CNN’s Steven Jiang and Katie Hunt contributed to this story.