HONG KONG (01/31/2000) - Steven Leung, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, is near death after an apparent beating in Beijing, where he had been attending a high-tech industry conference, according to a statement released today by a California-based public relations agency.
Leung is in a Hong Kong hospital, where he was transferred from a hospital in Beijing, and is in a coma, a representative for Leung's family said in the statement. The Chinese government has not provided the police report or medical records on Leung's case, and the family members are suspicious of the cause of the apparent attack, the statement said.
After leaving the ChinaEcom.com conference on Jan. 18 to shop in Beijing, Leung missed a business meeting. His business associates searched for him and finally found him at Peking Union Medical College, where doctors said he had suffered severe blows to his head and body. Authorities in Beijing said Leung had been found in a karaoke bar, but Leung does not drink or frequent bars, according to the family representative.
When found, Leung was still carrying a large amount of money, his watch, and his passport, which suggests that it was not a robbery attempt, the statement said.
Leung, a Hong Kong native, is chairman of Scenix Semiconductor Inc., a maker of microcontrollers for embedded system applications, which he founded in 1996.
Leung earlier founded Resumix, an online resume distribution company, and Documagic, a personal scanner company, according to the statement.
The family representative expressed concern that the Chinese government has not released information about Leung's case even though U.S. diplomatic representatives in Beijing had helped them seek information.
In addition, the statement also noted that Leung's case should serve as a warning to anybody visiting China on business not to take their personal safety for granted.