By Robert Andre Emmanuel
More than two years after the June 2021 fire which destroyed much of the former XPZ Supermarket on Sir Sidney Walling Highway, and Tianzhao ‘Alex’ Feng’s subsequent conviction for arson, Mr Ping, the supermarket owner never expected that would not be the last time Alex would appear near his establishment.
However, the recent social media posts showing Feng attempting to enter XPZ and allegedly throwing stones at the rebuilt storefront, his subsequent arrest and remand to prison, has caused the XPZ owner to want to tell his side of the story.
In an exclusive interview with Observer media, Mr Ping, XPZ consultant Danley Philip and a member of the XPZ staff sat down to talk about Alex Feng, the human trafficking allegations and the reconstruction efforts taking place on the Sir Sydney Walling Highway.
“Since December 2019, I left Antigua for China and returned only in 2023, so when the fire happened, I wasn’t in Antigua,” Mr Ping explained.
“While in China, I heard that my place got burnt down, I was shocked. At that time, I didn’t even know who did it [burn down the supermarket] … now we know who did it but I was shocked and scared.
He said that throughout his time knowing Alex, that he had done a lot to support him, including reportedly looking for a doctor for him and accepting Alex back as an employee despite numerous infractions and even Alex resigning his post at least three times.
Observer media was made privy to alleged talks between Alex Feng and Mr Ping on WeChat—the Chinese equivalent of WhatsApp—which Observer media was able to independently verify, but was unable to determine if Alex was the person identified in the conversation.
The chat logs reportedly show Feng showing an extreme degree of desperation due to his health and financial conditions, taking money from the company multiple times to pay off gambling debts and XPZ working with Alex to secure a renewal of his work permit.
Feng had travelled to Antigua in 2017, as part of an agreement with his uncle and the owner of the supermarket, having worked in St Lucia with Mr Ping’s wife prior to his migration to Antigua.
According to the men, it was impossible for Alex to have been trafficked into the country, noting that any complaint of mistreatment could be submitted with the Chinese embassy.
“One of the things that people don’t seem to understand is that if Alex was ill-treated or mistreated, he could always go to the Chinese embassy and complain because the embassy represents the Chinese government and [ill-treatment] would have been against the Chinese government’s policy,” Phillip noted.
Additionally, they said, Alex was often seen at various establishments and was able to enter and exit the XPZ facility as he pleased.
Feng, in past conversations with Observer media, reported that he was allegedly afraid of speaking with the embassy over fears of being assassinated.
According to Philip, when he was seeking to update all the foreign workers’ work permits and immigration stay, Alex allegedly refused to cooperate with the process, as he wanted to return to St Lucia.
The men described concerning behaviour by Feng since late 2019, and when asked why they continued to accept Feng back into the workplace, they expressed that it would have looked bad on them to have Alex, a foreign national who they brought in from China, being on the streets unable to sustain himself.
“Today, he says, ‘boss, I want to work for you’; the next day, he went to other Chinese people to look for a job. Then next month, he wants to stop working again,” Ping said.
Philip added: “the last time that he took him on, I went to him and said that ‘I see Alex on the road, and you can’t afford to have him out there because people are going to say that it is your fault.”
When asked about why they wanted to speak up now rather than after the fire, they argued that, firstly, it made no sense for them to pursue civil damages as Alex had no money and couldn’t cover the cost that would be expected with the burning of a major supermarket which was stated to be around $10 million.
Secondly, they suggested, was that presenting their side of the story would cause Alex to receive further punishment for the fire but due to the situation, it is necessary to have their voices heard.
The 2021 fire saw 60 employees—both foreigners and locals—out of a job and a vast amount of goods destroyed.
They alleged that Feng did not set the fire because of his frustration towards XPZ or mistreatment but to gain access to money stored in the building.
Feng, according to the men, was seen in recent weeks by XPZ staff members, allegedly threatening them.
“I have a business here, he doesn’t have anything, so why would I need to trouble him for, does he have something for me?
“If he is scared of us, he should just leave us alone, but he is not scared, he just wants to come in to ask us for something, for money,” Mr Ping said.
