Beijing: After more than five years of a Chinese-Canadian billionaire went missing from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong, Xiao Jianhua was put on trial on Monday, according to Ottawa’s embassy in Beijing.
However, the Chinese authorities have not released details of the charges against the financier.
The New York Times quoted the Canadian embassy as saying in an e-mailed statement that it was providing consular services to Xiao’s family and would continue to press for consular access.
Xiao’s case had been seen as part of China’s campaign to “curb the debt-fueled excess that powered much of the country’s economic growth in recent decades”.
The billionaire’s disappearance had occurred amid fears of Chinese encroachment into Hong Kong in violation of the “one country, two systems” framework.
