Taiwanese man seeks custody of daughter

A Taiwanese man who alleges his young daughter was abducted by his former wife and brought to Canada has won a B.C. court order that the child be surrendered to him.

Lyndon Chen, 50, says that more than five years ago his ex-wife, Hsin-Chen Shu, took both of their children to Hong Kong against his wishes.

A court in Taiwan ordered the return of his now-10year-old son.

The Taiwanese court couldn’t make the same order regarding their daughter because Shu, who is also known as Sin Chen Chang and Yun-Syuan Shu, denied that Chen was the father, according to documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

Nearly two years ago, following several years of legal wrangling, the 43-year-old mother moved to Canada from Hong Kong with the now-eight-year-old daughter.

Chen, who was divorced from Shu in August 2007, alleges that his wife fled Hong Kong right before a court issued a restraining order preventing her from going abroad.

He went back to court in Taiwan and was awarded sole custody of the girl last year, according to the documents.

Chen and his son, Dare, appeared in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday. Chen was granted an order declaring that the girl be surrendered to him until a full hearing is held into the custody of the child.

Justice Gordon Weatherill also ordered that the mother give up any passports she might have, as well as passports of the child, and not have access to the child until the hearing. The father will have the responsibility of ensuring the girl is taken to and picked up from school.

The judge added that he expected that it would be a “very hotly contested” matter when it returns to court. He said the mother, who was not in court Tuesday, would be entitled to appeal his interim order.

“We’re just getting a temporary order to make sure the daughter stays in B.C. until we can have the matter heard in front of a judge on an expedited basis,” Leena Yousefi, Chen’s lawyer, said outside court.

Chen, a businessman who is in B.C. for the next three weeks, was pleased that the judge had ruled in his favour.

“I want to thank the judge for giving me a chance to see my daughter,” Chen said outside court.

“I haven’t seen my daughter for five years. It’s going to be hard for us and hard for her, but it’s fair for her to see her only brother and her father.”

Court documents filed in Taiwan by the mother indicated that she was living in Burnaby and that the girl is attending school there. “I don’t know if she’s being treated well,” said Chen. “I don’t know anything about her.”

In the B.C. court application, Chen says his ex has now remarried and her new husband has his own children.

The mother could not be reached for comment.