Foreign courts approved the extraditions to China of 53 suspects
charged with economic crimes last year and the return of alleged
smuggler Lai Changxing from Canada is imminent, the Ministry of
Public Security said Tuesday.
"Any criminal suspects fleeing to abroad and evading punishment
will be brought to justice," said Wu Heping, spokesman for the
ministry. "It's just a matter of time."
Wu declined to answer questions on Lai's anticipated
deportation, but he promised to "inform the media on related
developments soon."
Lai is accused of leading a ring which had conducted, in
collaboration with corrupt officials in Xiamen City, the biggest
smuggling operation uncovered in China since 1949. The case
involved goods worth 10 billion US dollars.
Lai fled to Canada with his family in 1999, where he has since
been trying to gain refugee status.
Chinese police had strengthened cooperation with foreign
counterparts to prevent criminal suspects fleeing abroad, and the
efforts "have paid off," said Gao Feng, deputy director of the
ministry's Economic Crime Investigation Department, on Tuesday.
"About 800 suspects wanted in connection with economic crimes
are residing in foreign countries," said Gao. "In the last two
years more than 320 have been repatriated, in connection with cases
involving nearly 70 billion yuan (875 million US dollars) worth of
property and funds."
The United States had also extradited a Chinese criminal suspect
as a result of judicial cooperation.
Yu Zhendong, former head of a Bank of China branch in the city
of Kaiping, fled to the US before being tried in connection with
82.5 million US dollars that disappeared from the bank. Yu was
returned to China in 2004 after the government agreed he would not
face execution. Earlier this year, a court in the southern province
of Guangdong sentenced Yu to 12 years in prison for
embezzlement.
Chinese police are also negotiating with their Dutch
counterparts for the return of Yang Xiuzhu, a former official in
East China's Zhejiang Province, who has been charged with taking
bribes.
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(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2006)