Chinese authorities have refused to allow Canadian diplomats to attend the trial of a Chinese-born Canadian tycoon who disappeared from Hong Kong five years ago, the Canadian government said Tuesday. Xiao Jianhua was last seen in a Hong Kong hotel in January 2017 and is believed to have been taken to the mainland by Chinese authorities. He was investigated by anti-graft authorities that year, according to news reports, although the government did not release details. The government has never confirmed whether Xiao, the founder of Tomorrow Group, who has been linked to a series of anti-corruption prosecutions and seizures of financial firms by regulators, has been arrested or what charges he may face. The Canadian government earlier said Xiao was due to stand trial on Monday, but gave no indication if a trial would take place or where. He did not elaborate on possible charges. “Canada has made several requests to attend the trial. Our attendance has been denied by the Chinese authorities,” the Canadian government said in a statement. A foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said he had no information about Xiao. Xiao disappeared amid a storm of prosecutions of Chinese businessmen accused of misconduct. This has sparked fears that the ruling Communist Party may abduct people from outside the mainland. Hong Kong at the time banned Chinese police from operating in the former British colony, which has a separate legal system. Since then, Beijing has tightened control over Hong Kong, prompting accusations that it is violating the autonomy promised when the territory returned to China in 1997. The ruling party imposed a national security law in 2020 and has jailed pro-democracy activists. Hong Kong police investigated Xiao’s disappearance and said the person crossed the border into the mainland. But an ad in the Ming Pao newspaper in Xiao’s name the same week denied he was being held against his will. At the time of his disappearance, Xiao was worth nearly $6 billion, making him China’s 32nd richest man, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the country’s wealthy. Founded in 1999, Tomorrow has expanded into banking, securities, insurance, coal and real estate. The company has become one of the highest-profile targets in a ruling party campaign to reduce risks in China’s financial industries. Reports said Xiao was suspected of misusing money from banks and other companies to pay for buyouts, but no charges have been announced against him. In 2020, regulators seized nine companies controlled by Xiao. This included four insurers, two securities companies, two trust companies and one company involved in financial futures contracts. Business magazine Caixin reported at the time that the seized assets totaled nearly 1 billion yuan ($150 million). A retired bank regulator, Xue Jining, has admitted taking 400 million yuan ($62 million) in bribes in a corruption case linked to Baoshang Bank Ltd. in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, which regulators seized from Tomorrow in 2019. Auditors found Tomorrow embezzled money from Baoshang Bank, according to news reports. One of the Tomorrow companies seized in 2020, Tianan Property Insurance Co., put its assets up for sale last month, asking for 2.1 billion yuan ($315 million).
