Canadian diplomats were not granted access to the trial of Canadian-Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua in China, the Canadian embassy in Beijing disclosed in a recent statement that was released after the businessman commenced trial.

Xiao, one of China’s wealthiest people at the time he was allegedly abducted from a Hong Kong hotel in 2017, reportedly had great connections to the upper echelons of China’s ruling Communist Party.

Since he disappeared, Nothing more had been known about Xiao, who is a Canadian citizen, until the embassy confirmed recently that he was facing trial.

In a statement, the embassy said: “Canada made several requests to attend the trial proceedings. Our attendance was denied by Chinese authorities.”

So far, Chinese authorities have been silent about the case, reportedly connected to anti-corruption efforts spearheaded by President Xi Jinping since he assumed office.

When asked about the trial recently, a foreign ministry official said they were “not aware of the situation.”

The alleged abduction of Xiao came at a time when mainland Chinese agents were not allowed to operate in Hong Kong, and it triggered fear in the city about residents being disappeared with force.

These fears sparked the massive pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019, prompted by a government bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China’s Communist Party-controlled judicial system.

His disappearance also happened after the alleged kidnapping into mainland custody of five people that were working for a bookstore that wrote about China’s leaders.

Later, the booksellers appeared on mainland Chinese TV and admitted to a variety of crimes.

China in its response to the 2019 protests imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020.