Ottawa suggests progress be made on extradition

 

Xinhua, February 25, 2011

In those four treaties, China has promised not to seek capital punishment for extradited criminals, as these countries do not allow extradition to a country with death penalty.

On a case-by-case basis, several corrupt officials on the run in Canada have also been repatriated back to China in recent years.

In the latest case, Canada repatriated a Chinese man wanted in connection with a 1990s stock fraud case in China. Zeng Hanlin, a businessman from Guangdong, arrived back in China on Feb 17. He had lived in Canada for 12 years.

Zeng, alleged to have been involved in a major contract fraud from October 1997 to August 1998, fled China in 1999 and was denied asylum in Canada.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption, ratified by both China and Canada, requires signatories to cooperate on such issues. Before President Hu Jintao's visit to Canada last June, China and Canada also signed a memorandum to jointly fight crime.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, at least 580 fugitives accused of illegal fundraising, bank fraud, illegal transfer of funds abroad and contract fraud are on the run in other countries, mostly in North America and Southeast Asia, with Canada often cited as a haven for corrupt Chinese officials and fugitives.

Chinese police have seized more than 250 fugitives in 20 countries and regions, including the US and Canada, since 2006, according to figures given by the ministry earlier.

"The crackdown on fugitives can be taken as an international obligation," Dai Peng, head of the investigation department of the Chinese People's Public Security University, told China Daily on Thursday.

"The cooperation between the police of the two countries, to some extent, will be the most effective way to solve this problem," he said.

However, Dai also said the obstacle to signing an extradition treaty concerned different judicial systems.

Wu Ming'an, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the judicial differences between China and Canada concerned both laws and procedures.

"So far, the two countries have no unified standard on convictions that can lead to extraditions," he said.

"In other words, what crimes could lead to extradition might be disputed," he added.