Two more Chinese were kidnapped while visiting the Philippines! They have been missing for half a year; Chinese in the Philippines: Local kidnappers have an industry chain

Recently, the senior executives of two domestic medical device companies were kidnapped and "killed" while on a business trip in the Philippines, which has attracted widespread attention.

Insider: An acquaintance committed the crime and used a shell company to trick people to the Philippines

According to media reports, the victims Xia and Sun belonged to two different medical device companies and were both middle and senior management of the company. The two agreed to arrive in the Philippines on June 20 to inspect the business, intending to expand overseas markets, but unfortunately they were kidnapped and killed on June 24. On July 2, a short video blogger revealed to reporters that the family of the victim had asked him for help. He learned that the perpetrator used a shell company to trick the familiar victim to the Philippines and then kidnapped him.

The short video blogger told reporters that the family of the victim paid a ransom of 3 million yuan on the morning of June 24, but did not see the hostage released, and lost contact with the kidnappers, and then contacted him for help in the afternoon of the same day. The family said that the relative was sent to the Philippines on a business trip by the company on June 20 and was kidnapped after getting off the plane. After several days of negotiations, the family paid a ransom of 3 million yuan on June 24, but still could not contact the kidnappers. The kidnappers had previously made it clear that they only wanted money and were unwilling to "take lives". Since they could not contact the kidnappers, the victim's family urgently asked for help from the short video blogger, hoping to find a better solution. The family also revealed that it was an agent contacted by the victim's company at the time, and the agent used a shell company to deceive the victim to the Philippines to discuss business.

Response from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines

On July 2, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines spoke out on the matter. The information released on the embassy's WeChat official account stated that one of the two victims was a Chinese citizen and the other was a Chinese American. The embassy expressed condolences to the victims and condemned the murderer in the strongest terms. At the same time, the embassy actively provided consular assistance to the families of the murdered Chinese citizens, and made representations to the senior officials and relevant departments of the Philippine government at multiple levels, urging the Philippines to step up its efforts to handle the case and arrest and severely punish the murderer as soon as possible.

Details of the case

According to the Philippine Business Daily, Xia and Sun met at the European Conference on Cardiovascular Intervention (EuroPCR) in Paris, France on May 14 this year. Sun introduced a person named "Li Na" to Xia who claimed to be a distributor of a medical equipment company in the Philippines, and agreed to go to the Philippines to discuss business together in June at the invitation of the latter. The family members said that during the talks, "Li Na" mentioned that her "boss's surname is Hong, a famous Fujian businessman in the Philippines, mainly engaged in real estate and government procurement of medical equipment."

At 12:55 noon on June 20, Xia and Sun set off from Beijing and took Philippine Airlines flight PR359 to Manila Airport, arriving at about 6 pm. After picking up his luggage, Xia last contacted his colleagues at 6:07 pm, and his mobile phone has been unavailable since then. Xia's wife received several WeChat calls after 11:36 am on June 21, including the voices of Xia himself and a third person, saying that he lost money playing cards in the club and needed family remittances.

The kidnappers called the family members on the same day and threatened to kill them if they did not pay. The family members kept communicating with the kidnappers and learned through the phone that Xia had suffered personal injury. They immediately reported the case to the Chinese police and it was accepted. They also reported the case to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines and the Philippine police, and sent an email to the Philippine Anti-Kidnapping Police Brigade on the same day. Sun, a Chinese American who was on the same flight, could not be contacted after replying a photo of the ride on WeChat at around 6:57 pm. His family members also received calls asking for ransom.

According to the Philippine Business Daily, the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of 25 million yuan. One of the family members paid 3 million yuan, but still failed to get the hostages back. In the end, the two were killed.

On July 9, Philippine National Police spokesman Fajardo revealed that the eight suspects suspected of participating in the kidnapping and killing of Chinese citizens included five foreigners and three Filipinos. The police have their names and have not yet been arrested by the police. The Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Team is sorting out documents and preparing to file a case.

Fajardo said that the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group requested that not too many details be disclosed. In addition, the Philippine police are also working with foreign counterparts to obtain more evidence of the case. Since the origin of this kidnapping case is not in the Philippines, but because the victim met some people in another country and was invited to the Philippines for business activities, the investigation is not limited to the Philippines.

Philippine police previously confirmed that a Chinese citizen and a Chinese American were kidnapped and killed in the Philippines. They arrived in the Philippines on June 20 to meet business partners and were found killed in Camarines Sur on June 24.

Another kidnapping case, the case is highly similar

When he saw the news that Chinese citizens were kidnapped and killed in the Philippines, Xiaozhu (pseudonym) burst into tears. Half a year ago, his Chinese brother and an Austrian Chinese friend Lao Han were kidnapped when they were invited to the Philippines for business inspections from Europe. Xiaofan has lost contact with his brother since he paid more than 1.3 million yuan in ransom.

Whether it is the way of inviting to the Philippines or the details of the extortion, it is highly similar to the case of Chinese citizens being killed in the Philippines.

On July 8, the reporter contacted the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines. A staff member said that the cases of Xiaozhu brother and Lao Han are still being investigated by the Philippine police, and other information is not convenient to disclose.

On the same day, the operator of the Philippine Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) told reporters that they could not disclose the specific case for the time being and needed to contact the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police.

On July 9, the reporter sent an interview email to the German and Austrian police. The staff said that they had received the email and were understanding the situation. The German police replied to the reporter that the local police and prosecutors were investigating a case involving Xiaofan brother, but they could not provide specific details and other information for the time being.

Chinese in the Philippines said that local kidnappers already have an industrial chain

According to the Beijing News, Mr. Li, a Chinese who has lived in the Philippines for more than 20 years, said that local kidnappers have a complete industrial chain, and each link has a clear division of labor. After kidnapping hostages, the kidnappers demand ransom, and usually kill the hostages to destroy evidence. Mr. Li suggested that after being kidnapped, family members should call the local police for help in a timely manner.

These two kidnapping cases show the complexity and danger of transnational kidnapping incidents, and have also attracted great attention from police and diplomatic departments of various countries. The case is still under investigation and police call on the public to provide any possible clues to assist in solving the case.