Canadian politicians have been denied entry to Canadian and Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua in China, the Ottawa embassy in Beijing said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after the businessman appeared in court.
Xiao, one of China's richest men when he was allegedly abducted from a Hong Kong hotel in 2017, reportedly had close ties to the ruling Communist Party.
No one was known about the rich man, a Canadian citizen, until his disappearance, until the embassy confirmed on Monday that he was facing a charge.
"Canada has made many requests to attend this trial. Our presence has been denied by the Chinese authorities," the ambassador said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chinese authorities have so far not commented on the case, which has been linked to an anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping since taking office.
Asked about Monday's case, a foreign ministry official said "they are unaware of the situation."
Allegations of Xiao's abduction came at a time when Chinese agents were not allowed to work in Hong Kong, and it sparked fears in the city about the violent disappearance of civilians.
The fear was at the heart of the massive democratic protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019, fueled by a government bill that would allow for a return to the justice system controlled by the Communist Party of China.
Xiao's disappearance also followed allegations of kidnapping across the country by five people working at a bookstore that published bad articles about Chinese leaders.
Booksellers later appeared on Chinese national television and confessed to various crimes.
In response to the 2019 protests, China enacted a national security law in Hong Kong by 2020.
That law allowed its security agencies to operate in the city and violated the official firewall between the high courts and Hong Kong.
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