Xi Jinping, China's President, this month successfully pushed the “Beijing... Read More
Only “a small number” of officials have been repatriated from the two countries, Xu Hong, director general of the department of treaty and law at China’s foreign ministry, said at a briefing today in Beijing. Efforts to bring back suspects are being hampered by judges with “bias” against China’s legal system and the lack of an extradition treaty, he said.
“We have mentioned this to the United States, saying that in view of the increasing exchanges between China and the U.S. should we consider signing such an
extradition treaty?” Xu said. “It looks like the U.S. is not ready yet. Under these circumstances, we have to resort to alternative solutions.”
Those solutions can include enforcement of violations of immigration law, or in some cases China resorting to litigation by suing individuals in the U.S., he said.
China is increasingly seeking to apprehend corrupt officials and other economic criminals who have fled abroad. The effort, dubbed “Operation Fox Hunt 2014,” started in July as part President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign and has netted more than 300 people from dozens of countries and regions, according to official figures.
Congress Opposition
“Legally there are no obstacles standing between two countries to sign an extradition treaty, and it will benefit both countries,” Huang Feng, a law professor at Beijing Normal University who specializes in international extradition, said by phone. “But it will need to be passed by the U.S. Congress, which opposes such a treaty because it distrusts the Chinese judicial system and has a dismal view of the Chinese human rights record.”Efforts to bring back corrupt officials and their ill-gotten gains dovetail with a broader campaign by the ruling Communist Party against corruption, which Xi has said was so bad that it threatens the party’s grip on power. Australia is taking part in operations with China to seize illegal assets, while China has sent investigators to Thailand, the Philippines and other nations.
Xi this month successfully pushed the “Beijing Anti-Corruption Declaration” to be passed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing earlier this month. The agreement aims to enable cooperation between 21 APEC member countries in combating transnational bribery and money-laundry and in repatriating suspects and returning illicit assets via various channels.
Judicial Deals
China this year made “unprecedented efforts” internationally that resulted in completing 10 extradition or criminal judicial assistance negotiations with other countries, Xu said. While China “has made progress” improving law enforcement mechanisms with the U.S. and some fugitives had been brought back, there is still no extradition treaty in place, Xu said.Still, China also encounters opposition in the court system, Xu said.
“Many foreign judges don’t really understand China and its legal system,” Xu said. “In fact sometimes they even harbor certain bias or prejudice against China. In that case, they sometimes simply return a judgment of refusing to cooperate.”
While China understands other countries must follow their own laws and processes, there should be greater effort to implement the spirit of the United Nations’ convention against corruption as a basis for pursuing fugitives where no bilateral extradition treaty exists, Xu said.
That’s especially true in the case of the U.S., he said.
“We sincerely hope that both parties shall continue their efforts with greater speed, more aggressively, so as to achieve greater results,” Xu said.
For Related News and Information: China Anti-Corruption Campaign Boosted by Asia Ministers’ Pledge ‘Big Guy’ China Seeks Closer Australia Security Ties, Xi Says China Tries to Track the Corrupt Officials Fleeing Abroad
No comments:
Post a Comment