Xiao Jianhua was due to stand trial on Monday, according to a government statement. It said Canadian diplomats were “closely monitoring this case” and providing unspecified services to Xiao’s family. He said no other information would be released for privacy reasons.
Xiao, the founder of Tomorrow Group, disappeared from a hotel in Hong Kong in January 2017 amid a surge in prosecutions of Chinese businessmen accused of bribery and other wrongdoing. Authorities never confirmed whether Xiao was arrested or disclosed possible charges.
Xiao’s disappearance comes as the ruling Communist Party steps up efforts to force people wanted in corruption cases to return from abroad to stand trial. It fueled fears that Beijing might kidnap people abroad. At the time, Chinese police were banned from operating in Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government has tightened control over Hong Kong since then, 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-government activists. of democracy .
In 2015, five people linked to a Hong Kong publishing company that sold books critical of Chinese leaders disappeared from the territory and reappeared on the mainland.
Before his disappearance, Xiao had a fortune estimated at $6 billion, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks China’s wealthy.
An official from China’s securities regulator said in February 2017 that overseas Chinese accused of misconduct would be “arrested and returned”.
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.
