China, US to discuss fugitive issues
Print Edition
SENIOR officials from China and the United States will meet in August to discuss the possibility of repatriating Chinese officials who have fled to America with billions of dollars of allegedly stolen government assets.
The issue is a thorny one, as no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.
That has made the US, and other countries such as Australia and Canada, attractive destinations for Chinese officials fleeing the country and a haven for stolen assets.
Officials from both countries met for two days in the Philippines last month, with the US delegation led by David Luna, the US State Department’s senior director for National Security and Diplomacy.
Luna said the talks will reconvene in August and will include law enforcement and legal experts. The countries will share specific intelligence on suspected corrupt Chinese officials and stolen assets and will also discuss ways to repatriate fugitives.
China’s foreign ministry said there is a need for new steps to be agreed with the US to enable the recovery of stolen assets, though it declined to comment on details of the talks or any possible measures.
“We are willing to stay in communication with the United States on this,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
Alternatives to extradition exist, US officials said, including deportation for violations of US immigration law.
Canada, which has no formal extradition treaty with China, has expelled suspects wanted by Beijing, including Lai Changxing.
Lai, a businessman wanted for corruption, was sent back to China from Canada in 2011 on the promise that he would not be executed. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Last year, Chinese officials said more than 150 economic fugitives, many of them described as corrupt government officials, were in the US. Neither country has provided a figure for how much stolen money is involved.
However, the Washington-based Global Financial Integrity group, which tracks illegal flows, said that between 2003 and 2012, US$1.25 trillion of illicit cash left China.
Preliminary talks between Chinese and US officials were held on January 27-28 in Clark, the Philippines, as part of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation working group, called ACT-NET.
The group, which involves multiple APEC countries, including Russia, was formed in Beijing in August to fight cross-border corruption.
The talks took place amid a far-reaching anti-graft drive in China, and a ramping up of efforts between the US and China to combat cross-border corruption.
It was agreed after the talks that more negotiations within the ACT-NET forum will take place in August in the Philippines.
Luna said law enforcement officials from both countries will discuss cases and possible joint investigations into Chinese fugitives and stolen assets.
“There are alternatives to extradition,” Luna said.
Legal avenues being explored to circumvent the lack of an extradition treaty include United Nations conventions against corruption and on transnational organized crime, he said.
Luna said there is no formal agreement to return stolen assets to China, but the issue is “part of an ongoing bilateral dialogue.”
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