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A NEW police probe has been launched into the 30-year-old unsolved murder of a leading Chinese businessman.

Dad-of-three Philip Wong, who ran the Lucky Star restaurant in Glasgow, was hacked to death by a gang of contract killers armed with machetes on October 9, 1985.

Yesterday, Police Scotland confirmed they are reviewing existing evidence and appealing for

new information.

At the time of his murder, 48-year-old Wong – whose real Chinese first name was Kwong – was a leading light in Glasgow’s 5000-strong Chinese community.

His slaying led to one of the biggest murder inquiries by police in Scotland with more than 50 detectives involved at one stage.

But the investigation was hampered by a lack of information from the Chinese community, who feared reprisals from the Triad gang leaders said to be behind the killing.

Wong was attacked at the door of his Mercedes in Rose Street, Glasgow, by three men who left him to die in a pool of blood.

He had just left Tin Tin Bookshop in the city’s Chinatown district of Garnethill, where he had taken part in gambling game mahjong.

Police later discovered matchsticks had been placed in Wong’s car door lock to delay him getting into it.

It is believed Wong was murdered because he refused to do a business deal with Triad group the Wo Shing Wo. They were said to want a share of his lucrative Chinese video rental business.

Wong was also rumoured to be a senior member of the rival Shui Fong Triad group, holding the prestigious title White Fan, something his family have always denied.

The new investigation into his murder is being run by the Police Scotland Homicide Governance and Review team, who look at all unsolved murders and have taken over the inquiry from the former Strathclyde Police.

A spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland carry out periodic assessment of unresolved murder cases and the Philip (Kwong) Wong murder case has been, and will be, under assessment at different stages.

“We would welcome any new information that could assist us.”

As well as his Glasgow businesses, Wong ran Chinese restaurants in Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling.

He had arrived in Scotland in 1958 and lived with English wife Josephine and their three children in Barrhead, near Glasgow.

In 1979, he alerted police to a big extortion racket that was targeting law-abiding Chinese restaurants in the city, including his. The gang leader was jailed after Wong’s intervention.

Former police chief Graeme Pearson, who is now Labour justice spokesman, knew Wong well.

He said: “Philip Wong was a respected figure in the Chinese community. It would be good if people could still come forward with information to help.”