an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. Cheung fled to China in January 1998 after failing to kidnap Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, in retaliation for the jailing of his associate, Yip Kai-foon. Acting on a tip-off, the police discovered 818 kg of explosives in Sheung Shui, a part of Hong Kong, in January 1998 which they attributed to a plan by Cheung to bomb government buildings. Cheung allegedly acquired 960 kg of explosives in 1997 for $200,000 from a man in Macau, the stock was transported to Hong Kong and buried in a deserted container parking area. Cheung had already fled to Guangdong province in January 1998 under an assumed name, having bribed the police there. He was arrested in August 1998, and his gang of 35 were rounded up by mainland police. Among his gang members were 17 Hong Kong residents and 14 mainlanders. It was reported at the time of his capture that Cheung planned to kidnap Macau gambling magnate, Stanley Ho. Cheung is known to have lost at least $200 million in Ho's Macau casinos, once losing over $25 million in just one session at the casino. Criminal trial Cheung and his gang were tried in connection with a number of crimes including the kidnapping of two Hong Kong tycoons, who remained unnamed in the trial (some reports suggested one victim was Victor Li). The trial was held in Guangzhou even though the events occurred in Hong Kong. Cheung's lawyer, and other constitutional experts, lobbied the government for the trial to be transferred to Hong Kong, but they were rejected. The Guangzhou Municipal People's Prosecutor formally charged Cheung and his 35 followers with a series of charges relating to "cross-boundary crime including illegal possession, transporting and smuggling explosives and firearms, robbery and kidnapping". The charges, which were denied by Cheung, included the abduction in 1993 for a four million yuan ransom of a Fujian merchant who had only come forward after Cheung's arrest. The trial began on 8 October 1998. It was reported that Cheung made a full confession on the first day of the trial. On 12 November 1998, Cheung was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed by shooting on 5 December 1998 in Guangzhou. Legal controversy The trial of a Hong Kong resident in Mainland China engendered a crisis of faith in the judicial independence of Hong Kong, explicit