Chinese Auto Tycoon Flees China for U.S

HONG KONG, October 1, 2002, Elaine Kurtenbach writing for AP reported that a Chinese tycoon fled to the United States and appealed to top leaders in Beijing for help, accusing his provincial business partners of "persecution," a magazine reported Monday.

Yang Rong, ranked by Forbes as China's third-richest businessman with wealth estimated at $840 million, disappeared in June after his company, Brilliance China Automotive Ltd., announced it had replaced him as its chairman and chief executive amid reports of a conflict over control of the company's assets.

In an interview from a Los Angeles hotel with the Chinese-language magazine Yazhou Zhoukan, Yang said he left China fearing he would be detained by security officials in the northeastern province of Liaoning if he resisted government plans to take control of his stake in Brilliance China.

Brilliance China is the country's biggest minivan maker. Ten years ago, it became the first mainland Chinese company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. It is also listed in Hong Kong.

Yang said he was considering filing a lawsuit against the government organizations that are his business partners in Brilliance China. He accused them of "persecuting" him and of not compensating him for his stake in the company.

"In 10 years, the government didn't give me a cent. I used my own assets and abilities," Yang told the magazine.

He said he wasn't expecting to get all his money back.

"I am a patriotic businessman. I didn't work hard just for my own profit," Yang was quoted as saying. "I don't really care about losing the assets, I just want justice."

Yang denied reports by Chinese and foreign media that he was under investigation for financial irregularities.

Although his businesses are based in mainland China, Yang said has held permanent residency in Hong Kong since 1990. He said his wife and children are U.S. citizens, and that he holds a "green card" enabling him to stay in the United States.

The magazine said Yang was appealing to top leaders in Beijing for help.

Staff at the Brilliance China office in Hong Kong declined comment on the report. Offices in mainland China were closed Monday for a national holiday.

The sudden removal of Yang, who remains a director of Brilliance China, raised worries over plans for a joint venture with German group BMW to make luxury cars, although in July the companies announced the venture had won government approval.

The ruckus over Brilliance China is typical of the confusion surrounding the ownership structures and management of many mainland Chinese companies.

Brilliance China was set up in 1992 to hold a 51 percent stake in Shenyang Automotive, a Sino-foreign joint venture located in the northeastern province of Liaoning that is the country's largest maker of minibuses.

According to the company's Web site, the Chinese Education Development Foundation, an organization under the central bank, holds a controlling 39.4 percent stake in Brilliance China. Public shareholders own 56.9 percent and the company's directors own the remaining 3.7 percent. The value of Yang's own share was not available.