'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Chinese authorities refused to let Canadian diplomats attend the trial of a Chinese-born Canadian tycoon who disappeared from Hong Kong five years ago, Canada's government said Tuesday.
Xiao Jianhua was last seen at a Hong Kong hotel in January 2017 and was believed to have been taken to the mainland by Chinese authorities. He was placed under investigation by anti-graft authorities that year, according to news reports, though the government has released no details.
The government has never confirmed whether Xiao, the founder of Tomorrow Group, which has been linked to a series of anti-corruption prosecutions and seizures of financial companies by regulators, was detained or what charges he might face.
The Canadian government said earlier Xiao was due to stand trial Monday but gave no indication whether a trial took place or where. It gave no details of possible charges.
"Canada made several requests to attend the trial proceedings. Our attendance was denied by Chinese authorities," a Canadian government statement said.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said he had no information about Xiao.
Xiao vanished amid a flurry of prosecutions of Chinese businesspeople accused of misconduct.
That fueled fears the ruling Communist Party might be abducting people outside the mainland. Hong Kong at that time prohibited Chinese police from operating in the former British colony, which has a separate legal system.
Since then, Beijing has tightened control over Hong Kong, prompting complaints it is violating the autonomy promised when the territory returned to China in 1997. The ruling party imposed a national security law in 2020 and has imprisoned pro-democracy activists.
Hong Kong police investigated Xiao's disappearance and said the subject crossed the border onto the mainland. But an advertisement in the Ming Pao newspaper in Xiao's name the same week denied he was taken against his will.
At the time of his disappearance, Xiao was worth nearly $6 billion, making him China's 32nd wealthiest person, according to the Hurun Report, which follows the country's wealthy.
Founded in 1999, Tomorrow expanded into banking, securities, insurance, coal and real estate.
The company became one of the highest-profile targets in a campaign by the ruling party to reduce risks in Chinese financial industries. News reports said Xiao was suspected of improperly using money from banks and other companies to pay for acquisitions, but no charges against him have been announced.
In 2020, regulators seized nine companies controlled by Xiao. That included four insurers, two securities firms, two trust firms and a company involved in financial futures. The business magazine Caixin reported at the time that the seized assets totaled almost 1 billion yuan ($150 million).
A retired bank regulator, Xue Jining, admitted taking bribes of 400 million yuan ($62 million) in bribes in a corruption case linked to Baoshang Bank Ltd. in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, which regulators seized from Tomorrow in 2019.
Auditors found Tomorrow misused money from Baoshang Bank, according to news reports.
One of the Tomorrow companies seized in 2020, Tianan Property Insurance Co., put its assets up for sale last month, asking 2.1 billion yuan ($315 million).
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.