Canada denied access to trial of Chinese-Canadian billionaire, embassy says

Xiao Jianhua, who went missing in Hong Kong five years ago, was due to go on trial in China on Monday and Canadian consular officials had been pressing for consular access.

Chinese authorities have blocked Canadian government representatives from attending the trial of Chinese-Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua, the Canadian embassy said on Tuesday.

Xiao, who went missing in Hong Kong five years ago, was due to go on trial in China on Monday and Canadian consular officials had been pressing for consular access, the embassy said earlier in a statement.

“Canada made several requests to attend the trial proceedings,” public diplomacy counselor at the embassy, Nadia Scipio del Campo, said in an emailed statement sent to reporters.

“Our attendance was denied by Chinese authorities.”

When asked for further details such as to confirm the location of the trial, the embassy said it would not comment further due to privacy considerations.

A spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, Zhao Lijian, said on Monday he was not aware of the situation, when asked about Xiao’s trial at a media briefing.

China-born Xiao, known to have links to Communist Party elite, has not been seen in public since 2017 after he was investigated amid a state-led crackdown on conglomerates.

Officials have not disclosed the specifics of the investigation.