Canadian sentenced in China to 20 years in jail
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 | 8:52 PM ET
CBC News
Jimmy Chen, 52, was arrested in China in October 2006 and has been in jail ever since. (CBC)A Canadian businessman has been fined $1.9 million and sentenced to 20 years in jail in China, two years after he was detained on fraud charges, his lawyers have confirmed.
Jimmy Chen, 52, was importing electronics from a large Chinese company when he got involved in a multimillion-dollar contract dispute. When the Mississauga, Ont., man arrived in China to settle the dispute in October 2006, he was arrested at the border and imprisoned in the southeast Fujian province.
His wife and daughter have not heard from him since and are urging the Canadian government to pressure China to extradite Chen.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Chen's daughter, Yan, said the fact the government has intervened in recent high-profile cases of Canadians imprisoned in other countries gives her hope.
"Well, I’m disappointed the Canadian government has not stepped in to help our case specifically," she said. "But seeing that Canadians are being brought back due to government efforts shows me that there is an opportunity that we can push the government to also make a difference for us.
"And that's what we're here to do. We're not going to stop until we gather enough support — until the government hears our voice and helps us to bring my dad back."
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said consular officials "have been providing assistance and support to Chen since his arrest in October 2006.
"Mr. Chen has advised us that he intends to appeal the recent court decision and consular officials are in regular contact with his Chinese lawyer, as well as with Mr. Chen's family in Canada," Alain Cacchione said Wednesday.
A Canadian consular official did monitor Chen's trial, which lasted half a day in January. Chen's lawyers said they were given two weeks to review the 20,000 pages of evidence compiled by prosecutors.
The sentence and fine were handed down June 27, but news of the decision only emerged this week.
Chen's lawyer, Courtney Betty, said news of the 20-year sentence has broken the heart of Chen's wife.
"This case highlights a much bigger problem for the relationship between Canada and China," Betty told CBC News on Tuesday. "Potentially any individual involved in a case where there's a commercial dispute could end up in jail in China, and that's a frightening prospect for anyone doing business in China right now."
Toronto MP says Canada is 'missing in action'
Jim Karygiannis, the Liberal MP for the Toronto riding of Scarborough-Agincourt, has taken up Chen's cause.
He said the Conservative government has been "missing in action" on Chen's case.
"I think the government has to review the sentence. I think the government has to look at it very carefully and I want a diplomatic note sent to China that says, 'Look, you have to do something.'"
Chen, who immigrated to Canada from China in 1994 and became a Canadian citizen in 1995, runs a company that distributes DVD players, televisions and other electronics. The company's relationship with its Chinese supplier, the Malata Group in Hong Kong, soured in 2004. In 2005, Malata launched three lawsuits, the primary one worth $5 million, against Chen and a business partner.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in June that China must give Chen permission to return to Canada to testify in the cases, but Betty said the provincial court has little sway on the international scene.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ordered legal counsel to send Chinese authorities a request that Chen be allowed to return to Canada to give evidence, Cacchione said Wednesday, adding that Canada doesn't have a Transfer of Offenders Agreement with China.
Betty said the Canadian government would have to intervene to give the court more clout.
With files from the Canadian Press
