Beijing Jul 05 :- China has formally put Canadian-Chinese businessman Xiao Jianhua on trial, more than five years after the tycoon went missing in Hong Kong, the Canadian Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
“Global Affairs Canada, our home office, is aware that a trial in the case of Canadian citizen Mr Xiao Jianhua will take place Monday,” the statement said without specifying the location or charges against him.
“Canadian consular officials are monitoring this case closely, providing consular services to his family and continue to press for consular access,” the statement said.
Xiao, the founder of Beijing-based Tomorrow Group was born in China and was known to have links to China’s Communist Party (CCP) echelon.
His’s disappearance came as the Chinese government, under President Xi Jinping, was prosecuting businesspeople accused of bribery and other misconduct, in an anti-corruption campaign.
Xiao disappeared at a time when Chinese police were prohibited from operating in Hong Kong, which has a legal system under “one country, two systems” framework.
Acccording to Voice of America (VOA), the Chinese governmnet has neither confirmed nor denied whether Xiao was detained. Also, neither have they disclosed possible charges against him.
Xiao reportedly, worked on behalf of a number of powerful families, in China over the course of his career, and was once described by The New York Times as “a banker for the ruling class.”
By 2016, he was worth an estimated USD 6 billion.
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