Man, 38, loses custody battle in China, takes son, 6, to S'pore, court calls it 'child abduction'

The High Court has rejected a 38-year-old man's appeal after he took his six-year-old son to Singapore without telling his former wife, following a custody battle in China.

According to a written judgment on Nov. 5, the man's ex-wife filed for sole custody in Singapore in June 2024.

The father was ordered to return the boy to China.

Took son to Singapore and enrolled him in international school

The man and his ex-wife, both Chinese nationals, had divorced in August 2023 in Hangzhou, China after the local court granted the woman a divorce and ordered for their son to be "raised and educated" by her.

The man then appealed against the decision, which was dismissed on Nov. 23, 2023.

He then took the boy son on a purported holiday to Phuket, Thailand on the same day.

On Dec. 11, he brought the child to Singapore and enrolled him in an international school.

He also claimed to have moved to Singapore with his son, which was refuted as he had no long-term immigration records in the country.

Instead, the child's paternal grandmother obtained a long-term visit pass linked to the child's student pass, allowing her to reside in Singapore with him.

Boy's mother turned to China and Singapore courts for the boy to be returned

In February 2024, the Chinese courts issued additional orders against the man, including invalidating his travel documents after his ex-wife reported that the boy did not return to China.

When the boy was still not returned, the mother filed an application in Singapore's Family Justice Courts in June 2024.

She sought sole custody, care and control of the boy, and for the man to surrender their son and his passport to her.

The man contested the application, suggesting that the pair have joint custody over the boy, with the man having overnight and overseas access to their child.

On Mar. 13, 2025, a district judge ruled in the mother's favour, and the High Court upheld the decision on Aug. 28 after the man appealed.

On Sep. 10, the woman informed the court that she had returned to China with the boy.

The man, however, attempted another appeal, claiming they were still in Singapore.

During a virtual hearing on Sep. 29, the mother showed the court she was on a train in China, with the boy sleeping next to her.

"Outright child abduction", appeal dismissed by Singapore court

The man's appeal against the court decision on Aug. 28 was rejected by the High Court, which described the matter as "a case of outright child abduction".

His further attempt to appeal also failed.

In its dismissal of the appeal, it was stated that it was "in the boy's best interests" to return to China with his mother.

He had spent most of his life in China before being taken to Singapore in December 2023.

In their written judgment, Justices Hri Kumar Nair and Debbie Ong noted that the boy also does not have any "permanent roots" in Singapore, and that neither of his parents hold long-term immigration permits to remain in Singapore.

The court added that the boy's ability to readjust to life in China was not in doubt and there was no reason to believe he would not receive a proper education there.

The judges also clarified that the principle of international comity — mutual respect among states for each other's judicial decisions — did not apply in this case.

They contrasted it with situations covered by the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty that provides a process for parents seeking the return of their abducted children.

While Singapore is a signatory to the treaty, China is not.

In such circumstances, the court said, the welfare of the child must remain the "paramount consideration" rather than the application of "quasi-Hague Convention rules".

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