Chinese international who owned Chilliwack mansion faces deportation for alleged war crimes
Rongxiang ‘Tiger’ Yuan, who founded group to improve Chinese-Canada relations, also alleged to be a ‘whale’ gambler named in B.C. casino money-laundering investigation
October 24, 2026
The story of the owner of one of the most expensive properties in Chilliwack was mysterious enough, now Rongxiang “Tiger” Yuan is allegedly a VIP gambler with ties to the Chinese military.
And he might be a war criminal.
In 2018, this reporter wrote about Yuan who at the time owned 6500 Chadsey Rd., a seven-acre property with a 16,500-square-foot house, expansive Chinese gardens hidden on all sides by massive cedar hedges guarded by at least 32 security cameras. There was also a basement fortress in an outbuilding with dozens of classic cars and unique vehicles.
Yuan made his millions as an aluminum exporter in China and moved to Canada in 2008. He was also allegedly one of the so-called “whale” gamblers that investigators connected to massive cash deliveries at Richmond’s River Rock Casino, according to allegations in 2015 Lottery Corp. investigation documents.
While Yuan was being tracked for his high-rolling gambling in Richmond, he was a founding board member of the Canada-China Association for Promoting Friendly Relations (CCAPFR).
He appeared at several Liberal Party of Canada events, including ones with sitting MPs. He has also donated to the Liberal party and even $1,500 directly to Justin Trudeau’s Montreal riding association.
“Tiger Yuan is a successful businessman who has been an active member of the Chinese-Canadian community for many years,” his lawyer Daniel Reid told Global News in 2020.
Reid pointed out that Yuan is suing Corus Entertainment, the owner of Global News, for defamation over their 2018 news reports.
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Fought for China in Sino-Vietnam war
Those accusations pale compared to what he’s facing in 2026. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) launched deportation proceedings against Yuan, according to a Global News report from Oct. 13, 2026,
CBSA claims the 63-year-old committed crimes against humanity in the 1980s as a member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party. He is also accused of lying on immigration documents.
Yuan served in the PLA during China’s war with Vietnam from 1979 to 1991. An article in the People’s Daily from March 23, 1988, gives an oddly and hyperbolic account of a specific battle in which his squad leader heroically blocked enemy gunfire to protect his comrades. Yuan is described as the platoon leader of a small group of soldiers who encountered Vietnamese soldiers in a village in Chinese territory.
“They quickly made a battle plan, preparing to annihilate the enemy,” according to the article.
To avoid harming civilians with gunfire, it was said they decided to subdue the enemy soldiers with their own hands.
“Yuan Rongxiang first knocked down a large Vietnamese soldier. Just as he was about to twist the soldier's arm to subdue him, the soldier hiding behind a wooden bed suddenly raised his submachine gun and aimed it at Yuan Rongxiang's head, the muzzle less than three feet away.”
That’s when he was apparently saved by squad leader Sun Yongfan who was awarded a first-class merit, according to the PLA article. Whether or not the details of this specific incident could ever be verified is unclear. What is clear is that the Canadian government wants him gone based on two sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, one of which covers those who have committed acts outside Canada that are considered war crimes or crimes against humanity.
“He denies in the strongest terms having committed any war crimes, and he has never been charged with or convicted of any such offence in China, Canada, or elsewhere,” his lawyer Daniel Reid said as quoted by Global.
No date is yet set for Yuan’s deportation hearing.
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Paul J. Henderson
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