“It was a pretty nerve-wracking experience,” he said in a recent phone interview.

Eventually, with the help of riot police, Fleischli said, he was allowed to go. But as NorthPole’s legal representative in China, he had to hand over his passport. He’s been in limbo ever since.

Fleischli says he was fired in May — Warburg accused him of “gross misconduct” over that $200,000 loan — and he can no longer use his company-hired lawyer in China. His e-mail and Internet have been cut off, and he has just a few more weeks before the lease runs out on his company-funded apartment in Xiamen.

He spends his days researching his case, working with suppliers, meeting with whoever he can who might be able to help.

“I have a lot of time to watch movies, unfortunately,” Fleischli said.

Then there’s what he’s got back home in Labadie — a wife and 3-year-old daughter he hasn’t seen in five months. His mom, who lives up the street, is battling cancer, he says.

Fleischli’s wife Tess says she is used to him being gone for weeks at a time, but not like this.

“This is going on five or six months,” she said. “And there’s no return ticket I can wait for.”