US

Hope rises in bringing fugitives to justice

By Chen Weihua
Updated: 2010-07-16 00:00

NEW YORK — Lai Changxing, the alleged leader of a smuggling operation that evaded billions of dollars in taxes and bribed government officials, has been living on the run in Canada after he fled China in 1999.

Many in China had hoped that the recent improvement in relations between China and Canada would have sped up Lai’s extradition and put to rest Canada’s reputation as a haven for corrupt Chinese officials and businessmen.

The two countries had signed a memorandum to team up against crime. The MOU was signed between China’s Ministry of Public Security and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during President Hu Jintao’s trip to Ottawa late last month.

The two countries are now expected to initiate talks on a crimes data deal that is indirectly related to an extradition treaty. Canada and China have never hashed out a deal in the past 16 years, mainly because China insisted that its crime data were State assets and should not be shared with another country.

China’s attitude has since changed considerably because it understands that it needs help from Canada and other Western countries to extradite fugitives of economic crimes. That understanding has also translated into a respect for the legal practices of other countries.

The key problem now seems to be how to work out this new deal, said Vincent Cheng Yang, a law professor at Shantou University in Guangdong province and a senior associate at the Vancouver-based International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy.

Reaching a deal is still a totally different issue from the extradition of fugitives, Yang said. It is still, however, a necessary step.

There are more reasons for optimism now with China signing extradition treaties in the last few years with four Western countries — Spain, France, Portugal and Australia — in addition to another 28 nations, most of them developing countries.

In the treaties with the four Western countries, China has promised not to seek capital punishment for extradited criminals based upon the requests of these countries. The death penalty is legal in China.

It’s uncertain if Canada will accept a similar deal. “Some (Canadians) might want to wait and see whether China will keep its promise in implementing the treaties with the four countries,” Yang said.

Dr Gary Botting, a Canadian lawyer who has written books on extradition, told China Daily that the execution last week of Wen Qiang, a corrupt official in Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality, is not conducive to an extradition treaty. But Botting believes the two countries are moving ahead with talks for such a treaty.

“From Canada’s point of view, there is too much at stake economically to continue to dilly-dally in extradition matters. … As China becomes more of a force to be reckoned with, there is greater and greater pressure on Canada to comply with its collateral requests, including the need for an extradition treaty,” he said.

Besides China’s death penalty, Botting believes human rights abuses such as torture and the rule of law are also main concerns in talks with China.

Since Canada has a longstanding policy not to prosecute people for breaking the law overseas, bringing corrupt Chinese officials to justice entails extraditing them to China. “This becomes Canada’s international obligation, with or without an extradition treaty,” Botting said.

In January this year, Cui Zili, a Chinese fugitive wanted for his connection with a 20-million-yuan fraud case, was repatriated from Canada where he had lived for seven years. About two years ago, Deng Xinzhi, a key figure in the case, was also turned over to Chinese officials.

Without an extradition treaty, corrupt officials and businessmen are repatriated on a case-by-case negotiation. Both Canada and China have ratified the UN Anti-Corruption Convention, which requires signatories to cooperate closely on such issues.

While China and Canada are moving forward in extradition talks, both Botting and Yang are not sure how long it will take for China and Canada to finally conclude an extradition treaty. “It won’t be a surprise if it takes two to five years,” Botting said.

For Lai and several thousand Chinese officials and businessmen on the run overseas, this message is chilling in the long run, but comforting for the time being.

 

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