China deepens cooperation with foreign nations in hunt for fugitives
Print Edition
CHINA has changed tactics in its global manhunt for fugitives wanted for corruption, after complaints from countries that objected to Beijing’s practice of sending investigators to track them down, a top Chinese anti-corruption official said.
Liu Jianchao, in charge of repatriating Chinese corruption suspects who flee abroad, said in an interview that Beijing has deepened cooperation with foreign governments and no longer sends officials abroad without clearance from the host country to try to convince the suspects to return home.
China has repatriated more than 600 officials this year under its “Operation Fox Hunt,” pursuing them abroad as part of a wider crackdown on deep-rooted graft, which Liu called “an arduous task.” Seventeen of the top 100 suspects on which China’s Interpol office issued a red notice in April have been caught, he said.
“Chinese authorities at different levels ... didn’t really mean to make any harm to the country that they were visiting, but then we got these complaints, we realized there’s room for improvement in doing this job,” Liu told Reuters on Monday on a visit to Britain to seek better legal cooperation.
“So now we are talking to the authorities of the relevant countries to seek their assistance and their understanding and we tell them in explicit terms that China will ... comply with the legal procedures, with the rules of your country,” he said, in a frank admission of the challenges Beijing has faced in trying to repatriate fugitives.
Since the corruption crackdown started in late 2012, dozens of senior officials have been investigated or jailed. The Chinese government has given periodic updates of its progress in bringing graft suspects back to China, in some cases announcing batches of several dozen officials being returned.
However, the fight has been hampered by China’s difficulty in getting suspected corrupt officials and assets from overseas.
“The task remains daunting,” said Liu, who is vice minister for the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention. He also heads the Department of International Cooperation within the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Among those still overseas is Yang Xiuzhu, a former senior construction official from east China’s Zhejiang Province charged with corruption, who has been taken into custody by immigration authorities in the United States, but has applied for asylum.
Her brother, Yang Jinjun, was repatriated to China in September, the first time Beijing succeeded in bringing back a suspect from the US.
Liu said he hopes London will sign an extradition treaty with Beijing after a recent visit by President Xi Jinping.
“It’s in the interests of both China and Britain to have more cooperation in the legal area,” he said, adding that there are three people under Interpol’s red notice in Britain. One had been persuaded to return.
Liu did not say how many officials in total were being pursued abroad or the value of assets that had been recovered.
He dismissed concerns of political motivation in tracking the suspects, saying “any person who is corrupted is our enemy so we have to bring each and every one of them to justice, and we will put them on trial for the crimes they’ve committed.”
As part of the anti-corruption battle, authorities have banned government and Party officials playing golf.
Liu said golf was an expensive game in China, sometimes costing more than US$150 to play 18 holes at private clubs, a steep bill compared to the modest salaries most officials earn. “It’s not about a particular game. It’s about the way government officials behave,” the official said.
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