Myanmar police have arrested former shipbuilder Simon Liang Xiaolei and handed him over to Chinese authorities over tax issues, according to a Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs announcement.
TradeWinds could not reach Liang for comment and his mobile phone was apparently switched off over a period of at least two days this week.
From the beginning of 2016 forward, the former chief executive officer of both Sinopacific Shipbuilding and Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering lost control of three shipyards that had been among China’s most successful.
In a post on Sunday on the Facebook page of Myanmar's Ministry of Home Affairs, a photograph of Liang appears with his Chinese name displayed in Roman characters and his face partially concealed but recognisable, with a brief description in Burmese of the circumstances of his arrest.
Chinese media sources cite the page as saying Liang travelled from Hong Kong to Yangon on 19 January and was detained by aviation police on 26 January at Yangon International Airport, where Liang was said to have been en route to Thailand.
Domestic English-language news service Eleven Media Group in Myanmar cite a police source to the same effect and add that Liang was turned over to Chinese authorities pursuant to an Interpol "red notice" request issued in December.
The "red notice" is said to have been related to some CNY 10m ($1.49m) in taxes due in Liang's home base of Ningbo in eastern China.
