Neighbours shocked by armed kidnap of Midea tycoon He Xiangjian at his well-guarded luxury villa in Foshan, China
- The upmarket residential golf resort has 24-hour manned security booths at the main gate and various checkpoints, while He reportedly has his own security guard
- Residents rattled by the incident which ended early Monday morning after He’s son reportedly sneaked out of the villa and swam across a narrow river to raise the alarm
Neighbours and a property agent at the luxury development in southern China where armed intruders kidnapped the billionaire home appliance tycoon He Xiangjian said they were shocked the incident had occurred in such a well guarded area.
“I was shocked, because the estate has got pretty tight security. We have to get the owners to walk us in, or the owners tell security in advance and all visitors need to get their identity cards registered to get in,” said Vera Huang, a property agent focusing on the Royal Orchid International Golf Villa, where He’s luxury house is located.
Huang told the Post that the project, one of the most luxurious residential estates in Foshan’s Shunde district, is home to more than 200 villas and detached houses, as well as some low-rise apartment buildings. The gated community, which boasts an 18-hole golf course and sports centre, was developed by He’s own Midea Group a decade ago.
The upmarket development is guarded by a 24-hour manned security booth at the gate, and each area hosting different villas and apartment blocks has separate check points with security guards patrolling all the time.
“For example, residents in the apartment section cannot enter the villa section,” said Huang. “It’s so difficult for us to enter it even after all these years I spent here.”
Local police arrested five suspects at around 5am on Monday, almost 12 hours after they received a report that intruders had broken into a residence at the resort. He was safe, and nobody was harmed during the rescue operation, according to an official police statement.
