China's top legislature began deliberating on Tuesday a bill to ratify extradition treaties with Angola and Namibia. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill this Saturday.

 

Angola attaches great importance to judicial cooperation with China. In 2005 it proposed an extradition treaty, said Wu Dawei, Vice Foreign Minister, at the 27th session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

 

"Ratification of the treaty will help cement bilateral ties, and also contribute to a framework for bilateral judicial cooperation. We should consider making a positive response", Wu told the Chinese lawmakers.

 

The treaty was signed in Luanda last June. Its 22 articles cover the reliability of extradition procedures, types of criminal suspects that can and should be extradited, and exemption clauses.

 

China forged diplomatic relations with Angola in January 1983. Angola has since become a strategic partner for China and also one of the country's top trade partners in Africa. Bilateral cooperation in military, cultural and educational sectors has boomed in recent years.

 

"With the rapid growth of bilateral relations, China and Namibia agree on the need to intensify judicial cooperation," said Wu.

 

"Namibia proposed an extradition treaty in 2002, and we have made a positive response," Wu added.

 

The treaty, signed in December 2005 in Beijing, covered issues such as the reliability of extradition procedures, the types of criminals that can and should be extradited, costs, dispute resolution mechanisms and how amendments should be made.

 

The two sides also agreed on regulations on procedures to enact and terminate the treaty.

 

China and Namibia share a strong traditional friendship and the two sides have seen a boom in bilateral cooperation in political, economic, cultural, diplomatic and military fields, Wu told the Chinese legislators.

 

The NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, the NPC executive arm in charge of foreign affairs, suggested the NPC Standing Committee ratify the treaties.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)