China businessman offering US$1.4 million to find long-lost son hassled by gold-digging imposters who call him ‘dad’
- Wealthy father gets 8-9 phone calls from strangers pestering him daily
- Dad, 51, angered by man 10 years his junior who insists he is long-lost son
A 51-year-old millionaire in southeastern China says he is fed up with strangers claiming to be his child after he offered a 10 million-yuan (US$1.4 million) reward for finding his long-lost son.
Xie Yue, an entrepreneur from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has been bombarded by people wanting to have a DNA test with him, including a man only 10 years younger who insists on calling him “dad”.
In December last year, he said he was willing to pay anybody who could provide clues as to the whereabouts of Xie Haonan, who was born in 1998 and went missing in Shenzhen when he was just three years old.
The large sum of money has attracted widespread attention including harassment from many people “who do not live by honest labour”, Xie said.
“I receive about eight to nine phone calls every day from people who directly call me dad,” he said.
“A man of 41 years old came to my office, saying he is my son and wanting the DNA test. I am only 51. So it’s impossible for me to be his father,” Xie said.
“This has seriously affected my personal life and work,” he added.
He said at first he would welcome visits from potential candidates and offered to recoup part of their train fares after they showed him their tickets and ID cards. But that was taking up just far too much of his time.
“Please do not come to do a DNA test with me. From now on, I will not respond to people who have a ‘Haonan dream’,” Xie said in a video on Douyin on January 3.
By ‘Haonan dream’ Xie is referring to people on a duplicitous mission to inherit his wealth.
In mainland media reports, Xie had said he could afford the 10 million-yuan reward for tip-offs that led to finding his son because he owns companies and properties.
He said he is confident that, with the help of the police, his son, now aged 25, will be found this year. He also said he will respect the young man’s wishes and has no desire to disrupt his life.
“After finding my kid, I will not try to change his living environment,” Xie said. “If he wants to live with me, he will be welcomed. If he prefers to stay with his current family, I will respect his choice,” he said.
Another long-lost son story went viral on mainland social media in December last year after the father, who owns a large manufacturing business in northern Hebei province, gifted his son three properties following their reunion.
In 2021, a man who inspired the 2015 film Lost and Love was reunited with his kidnapped son 24 years after embarking on a nationwide search for him on a motorbike.
