B.C. winery defends owner over arrest

Lulu Island Winery in Richmond, British Columbia has hit back at Chinese media over reports that claimed its owner, John Chang had been arrested for smuggling ice wine into China.

Lulu Island Winery in Okanagan

As reported by the SCMP and Vancouver Sun, the winery issued a press release late last week defending Chang and stating: “[we] have been cooperating fully with Customs authorities with their investigation and we are confident that the investigation will confirm that Lulu Island has not done anything wrong.”

Owner and winemaker John Chang was reportedly arrested in China for smuggling wine to the value of ¥300 million (US$45m) into China, including ¥200 million (US$30m) worth of ice wine direct from his estate, Lulu Island Winery in Okanagan.

In its report, the state-owned Legal Daily did not mention him or his company by name, but referred to a “Canadian winery owner named Zhang.” Zhang is a variant spelling of Chang.

Describing Zhang as the company’s “chairman”, it described how he would encourage tour groups from China to visit his winery and offer to ship their purchases back to China. However, the customs declarations produced by the winery would then understate the real cost of the wine to minimize import duties.

Photographs linked with the Legal Daily report apparently showed officers inspecting crates branded with the Lulu Island Winery name and logo.

In response to the accusations, Lulu Island Winery’s statement said:

“Lulu Island believes all of its wine imports [sic] to China have been done in full compliance with all application laws, rules and regulations. We understand Customs authorities in China has recently conducted investigations regarding the foreign imported wine from a number of countries including Canada. Lulu Island has engaged legal advisors in China to assist with responding to the inquiries.”

It did not address whether Chang had been arrested or not but added, “For our customers and the public who have expressed care and support for Lulu Island and John, please accept our most sincere appreciation.”

The Legal Daily also mentioned that three other people were charged on smuggling offences during raids carried out in March in Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Xiamen which resulted in 18 arrests.

Chang’s vineyards in Richmond reportedly account for 50% of British Columbia’s entire ice wine production. The sweet wine is popular among Chinese drinkers and is much favoured as souvenir gifts among Asian visitors to Canada.