No evidence so far of mainland agents acting on Hong Kong soil in case of missing Chinese tycoon, city’s police chief says
He says force still investigating Xiao Jianhua’s case even after his wife withdrew report to police on his disappearance
More than a week has passed since the high-profile tycoon went missing after leaving Hong Kong for Shenzhen. Lo said the force took the case very seriously and was looking at it from all angles, even though Xiao’s wife had withdrawn the missing report to police on the case.
“Up to this moment, we have not seen mainland counterparts exercising their authority in Hong Kong,” Lo said on a radio programme on Saturday morning. “The probe is not over. We will continue to investigate as members of public are concerned about the case.”
The police chief, however, refused to say if any triads were involved.
Concerns over the fate of the 46-year-old tycoon were raised after overseas Chinese media reported that mainland agents had taken him from Hong Kong on the eve of Lunar New Year last Friday.
The Post reported earlier that police had been checking roadside surveillance footage around the city to try and trace the movements of the founder of the Beijing-based Tomorrow Group. At 3am last Friday, Xiao and his two female bodyguards were picked up by two cars at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, but they only crossed Lok Ma Chau control point 12 hours later.
Lo said the force was trying to investigate what happenedduring the 12 hours that were unaccounted for, and that it was still waiting for a reply from its mainland counterpart.
“We also want to understand his movements after he crossed the border,” Lo added.
It is understood that Xiao’s wife reported his disappearance to police via her lawyer last Saturday, but withdrew it the next day because the tycoon had contacted her to say he was safe.
Lo said that she had provided information to officers and had been staying in touch with them.
A full-page advertisement in Xiao’s name appeared on the front page of local Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao this week, which denied the businessman had been “captured” and taken back to the mainland.
It claimed the tycoon was “currently receiving treatment overseas” and would “meet the press very soon after treatment is finished”.
Lo said the notification mechanism did not apply in this case as Xiao is not a permanent Hong Kong resident. Under the mechanism, mainland authorities will notify the city’s police force when Hong Kong residents are suspected of committing crimes on the mainland.
