China's top legislature on Thursday ratified the United Nation's
Convention Against Corruption with a unanimous vote.
"The unanimous vote demonstrates the determination of the top
lawmaking body to stamp out the prevailing corruption in
collaboration with the international community," said Li Mingyu,
member of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress (NPC).
The ratification means that China is one of the first group of
more than 30 countries to enforce the international law, which will
go into effect on December 14 this year.
The convention "is conducive to the repatriation of corrupt
criminals who flee the country and the recovery of Chinese assets
illegally transferred to foreign lands," Premier Wen
Jiabao said in a bill submitted to the legislature on
Saturday.
Chinese police authorities said that by the end of last year,
more than 500 Chinese suspects of economic crimes, mostly corrupt
officials or executives of state-owned companies, were at large in
foreign countries having taken with them a total of 70 billion yuan
(US$ 8.4 billion) in public funds. Only a few of them have been
extradited to China.
The UN anti-corruption convention, adopted by the UN General
Assembly on October 31, 2003, provides for the prevention,
criminalization, international cooperation, assets recovery and
implementation mechanism in the fight against transnational crimes
of corruption. 30 ratifications were required for the convention to
be enforced. As of September 15, 2005, there were 127 signatories
and 30 ratifications after Ecuador became the 30th ratifier at the
2005 World Summit.
China signed the document in December 2003.
The convention is consistent with China's anti-corruption
strategy of putting equal emphasis on punishment and prevention of
corruption, and does not contradict Chinese domestic laws in this
regard, said Wu Dawei, vice minister of foreign affairs.
"Most important, it will provide a strong international legal
basis for China to overcome the difficulties in investigation,
extradition and the recovery of Chinese assets from other
countries," Wu said.
China has been active in seeking international cooperation in
fighting against corruption. Chinese prosecutors have captured a
total of about 70 suspects from abroad through legal assistance
channels with foreign countries since 1998.
The successful extradition from the United States of a local
branch head of the Bank of China in Guangdong Province in 2004 was
lauded as the most powerful deterrent for corrupt Chinese corrupt.
The US used to be the safest place for corrupt officials to run
to.
Yu Zhendong, the Bank of China official, misappropriated US$483
million before fleeing to the US.
Chinese police have also arrested more than 230 Chinese suspects
from more than 30 countries during the period between 1993 and this
January with the help of Interpol, the international police
body.
Fan Xin, another lawmaker, told Xinhua that China should go on
right now with the formulation or revision of its laws, including
the criminal code, statutes on money laundering, and bribery in
private sectors, to ensure that the Chinese legal system is able to
adapt to the UN convention.
(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2005)