In the authorised continuation short story The Jade Empress, Tao is the son of Mr Pang, a passenger on board the cruise ship Jade Empress en route from Singapore to Hong Kong. Mr Pang had left the infant Tao with his mother in Hong Kong when he moved to Liverpool to build a new life. When he earned enough money for his family to join him, his wife had died and the grown up Tao preferred to remain in Hong Kong. During the events in the story, Mr Pang was on his way to Hong Kong to see his son again, something which he was looking forward to very much.