China will deal with the case of Yang Bin according to the
country's laws, even though he holds a Dutch passport, Chinese
Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao confirmed Thursday
that the 39-year-old Dutch-Chinese tycoon, chosen by the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to run a special economic zone,
was arrested in the northeastern city of Shenyang on Wednesday.
"He is suspected of criminal activities including running
investment scams, using fraudulent contracts, illegally occupying
farmlands and offering bribes. Therefore he was arrested by the
Shenyang public security department on November 27 in accordance
with the law,'' said Liu.
Yang moved to the Netherlands in the 1980s but later returned to
China, prospering as chairman of the board of directors and legal
representative of the Shenyang Euro-Asia Group. He was named the
second-richest man in China by Forbes magazine last year.
Yang was placed under house arrest in Shenyang in early October,
shortly after the DPRK announced he would head its ambitious
Sinuiju Special Autonomous Region.
"In light of the fact that he had a Dutch passport when entering
China, according to international practice China has already
reported this arrest to the Dutch embassy,'' Liu added.
Also at Thursday's regular briefing, Liu talked about the United
Nations' weapons inspections in Iraq.
"As a requirement of the United Nations (UN), the Chinese side has
indicated its willingness to send experts to Iraq for the weapons
inspections,'' Liu said, adding that the two sides are negotiating
on the specific arrangements.
China was pleased to see UN weapons inspectors successfully
complete their first day of work at suspect sites in Iraq on
Wednesday, Liu said.
"We hope that the UN weapons inspectors can continue to carry out
their work effectively and smoothly. It is also our hope that the
relevant parties will earnestly implement relevant UN Security
Council resolutions on Iraq,'' Liu said.
Iraq has denied having any weapons of mass destruction and has
agreed to allow weapons inspectors back into the country after a
four-year break.
On
Wednesday, UN weapons inspectors began their first field mission in
Baghdad to search for banned weapons of mass destruction.
(China Daily November 29, 2002)