Regarding the kidnapping of Lan Zhanfei, I can't help but laugh at his entire account.

He had no prior planning for half a year, just impulsively bought a ticket and managed to carry out the kidnapping in unfamiliar Cape Town, South Africa.

Within just a few days, he found two Black helpers, claiming they were actually black taxi drivers who knew nothing.

He directly entered the hotel room with a card, not because there was an insider in the hotel, but because he impersonated Lan Zhanfei at the front desk, so they handed over the room key.

After getting the money, he didn't spend it. He said he wanted to commit suicide and turned himself in.

Logically, he can explain all the criminal details alone, but it’s really hard to believe this is just a string of coincidences in terms of common sense.

It seems more like the subsequent criminal group thinks that making a big fuss about this is troublesome, and pressure from the hotel/South African government led to them throwing a scapegoat to settle the case with the government/diplomatic department.

It feels more like every step of the crime was premeditated by the crime group so that if something went wrong, they could shift the blame at each stage.

The front desk is the insider, why didn’t they verify the person’s identity with an ID/passport before giving out the room key? They could explain that they didn’t recognize if it was Lan Zhanfei.

The Black helpers are just thugs, but before they needed to silence anyone, they could easily claim they weren’t familiar with the hostage himself, just a black taxi driver accepting a fare.

Whether the money can be spent after being obtained—such a normal question for a typical kidnapper—he never considered it. Instead, he just wanted to commit suicide and turn himself in once he got the money. Then why did he plan the kidnapping in the first place?

The plane ticket was also bought impulsively and randomly. He stayed for three days, just happened to wait for Lan Zhanfei, who was in South Africa. He had no inside help domestically or in South Africa. When Lan Zhanfei said online he was going to South Africa, he just bought a ticket randomly and waited three days, very lucky to wait for Lan Zhanfei.

You could explain it this way, but judging from his online statements, there’s a strong vibe of a scapegoat.