Yang Rong, China's controversial car maker, has surfaced in Los Angeles in the United States, where he accused mainland authorities of 'persecuting' him over the disputed ownership of the country's biggest mini-bus maker, the Brilliance Group.
Mr Yang, former chairman of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, disappeared from public view on the mainland three months ago, in the midst of a rancorous reported takeover of Brilliance by the Liaoning provincial government.
In an interview published at the weekend in Yazhou Zhoukan, an international Chinese news weekly, Mr Yang said he had fled to the US because he feared for his safety.
Mr Yang told the weekly the dispute over Brilliance had come to a head when the provincial authorities, in his view, wanted more than their fair share by taking over the entire assets of the group, instead of just the state-owned portion.
Mr Yang was said to have objected strongly to a decision by the Central Government to transfer the majority stake he held in Brilliance to the Liaoning provincial government without compensation.
His objection was based on the grounds that he had set up the company and he had managed the group for a decade.