China's top legislature on Saturday ratified an extradition
treaty with Spain, the first such treaty China has signed with a
developed western country, in which China unprecedentedly agrees
that it will not execute repatriated criminals.
Legal experts said that the landmark ratification means that
China has committed itself to respect in law the principle of no
extradition of criminal suspects who would face death penalty upon
repatriation. The principle is observed by major western
countries.
The treaty also marks "China's major shift in tactics in
bringing fugitive corrupt officials back to justice under its own
legal jurisdiction," said Dr. Xu Hong, counselor with Department of
Treaty and Law under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an
interview with Xinhua.
"The treaty will help China weave a global extradition net to
bring back corrupt officials who have fled abroad, largely seeking
asylum in developed countries in Europe and North America," said
Xu, who was also head of Chinese delegation in China-Spain
extradition talks.
Wu Dawei, China's deputy foreign minister, said in a report to
the legislature (the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress) earlier this week that "Spain is an influential country
in the EU, and the treaty will effectively deliver the warning to
corrupt officials who are at large on foreign lands."
Signing the extradition treaty with Spain will pave the way for
more such judicial cooperation with other western countries, he
said.
Fueled by surging economic figures, crimes such as bribery,
embezzlement have increased among government officials in China,
and a large number of crooked officials fled China after reaping
huge profits as police have come to be on alert.
Official figures show that from 1993 to January 2005, more than
230 Chinese criminal suspects had been repatriated from over 30
countries and regions, with assistance of the Interpol. But
observers said they were just a friction of the suspects seeking
refuge overseas.
Since 1993, China has signed extradition treaties with over 20
countries, mostly developing ones including Thailand, Laos, Belarus
and South Africa. "Negotiations with developed countries were
moving slowly," said Xu.
Observers said China's use of death penalty, especially on
severe economic crimes, makes it hard for the country to cooperate
on extradition with countries in the EU and North America who
uphold the policy that no person who might be subject to the death
penalty would be extradited.
To these countries, extradition treaties can never be signed
without China accepting the policy, Xu said.
"The constitution of Spain does not allow death penalty," said
Gregorio Laso, counselor of Information and Press in the Spanish
Embassy in China. In an interview with Xinhua, Laso said the fact
of two countries coming across all the differences in legal system
to cooperate demonstrates trust and respect between the two
sides.
"The treaty has a very positive impact on bilateral relations,
pushing the judicial cooperation to a new stage," Laso said, adding
that the Ministry of Interior of Spain will set up an office in
Beijing this month to take care of the judicial cooperation,
including extradition issues.
According to Xu, Spain proposed to China for extradition
cooperation in September 2004. The two sides had all the treaty
articles agreed in October 2005, and signed the document in
Madridon November 14, 2005, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's
visit to Spain. The legislature's ratification is required to
finally enact the treaty, according to Chinese laws.
Though praised by Spain, the treaty has stirred up debate among
Chinese legal experts and lawmakers, with some fear that it might
weaken China's anti-graft efforts by exempting runaway crime
suspects from death penalty.
"Now, the issue is not that whether we should put them to death,
but is that whether we can bring them back," said Xu, adding that
once crime suspects are living at large on foreign lands, it is of
no use to simply vow death penalty for them.
In fact, such an exemption of execution has already in practice
relating to an official repatriated from the United States, even
without an extradition treaty. Earlier this month, a court in the
southern province of Guangdong sentenced Yu Zhendong, a former bank
official repatriated from the United States, to 12 years in prison
for embezzlement.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)
