China passes redrafted law to combat corruption

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The amended regulation strengthens international judicial assistance and facilitates cross-border cooperation in the fight against economic fugitives on the run overseas.

Police escort Li Huabo, the second-ranked suspect on China's list of the 100 most-wanted economic fugitives, on his arrival at the Beijing Capital International Airport on May 9, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

"When I decided to return to China to plead guilty, I finally felt a sense of relief," said Li Huabo, one of China's most-wanted corrupt officials, who returned in 2015 after spending fours years on the run in Singapore.

In January last year, Li was given a life sentence by Shangrao Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province after being convicted of embezzlement, and 4.83 million yuan ($692,000), a small proportion of his ill-gotten gains, was returned to the State.

Li, 57, a former local government official from Poyang county in the eastern province, was accused of embezzling 94 million yuan in total.

"When I was hiding in Singapore, I gradually became anxious, self-doubting and timid due to nervousness and fear. I became unsociable and refused to communicate with other people," he said. "But my wife and daughter didn't give up on me, and consistently urged me to come back to face trial, then seek a lenient punishment."

He said his father and father-in-law both died while he was on the run. "As a son, I felt deeply sorry and ashamed because I couldn't look after them at the end of their lives," he said. "They always told me to be an honest, trustworthy person, but I betrayed their trust. Eventually, I showed remorse for my illegal acts."

Li fled to Singapore in 2011, after funneling 29 million yuan through banks in the city state. He obtained permanent residence in Singapore, but was later arrested by local police at a casino.

In July 2014, he was sentenced to 15 months in jail by a Singaporean court for "dishonestly accepting stolen property", and in May 2015, he returned to Beijing after serving 10 months of his sentence.

"Over the years since I fled, I have noticed progress in human rights in China, and improvements in the legal system," he said. "In particular, China launched the global Operation Skynet to hunt down fugitives. I could not expect to escape, so it was better to surrender."

Li was one of more than 4,000 fugitives accused of economic crimes, including 800 officials who have been brought back from more than 90 countries and regions to face trial since 2015.

In 2015, the Chinese authorities launched a special program to target fugitives on the run overseas and confiscate their ill-gotten assets.

"No matter where the fugitives escape to, we will make every effort to arrest them and bring them back to face justice," said La Yifan, director of the International Cooperation Bureau at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the leading anti-corruption watchdog.

In recent years, a large number of corrupt officials or directors of State-owned companies have fled to destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand to exploit a lack of bilateral extradition treaties or differences in the laws.

In addition, they have sent millions of yuan in illicit assets to banks overseas via illegal channels, such as money laundering or underground banks.

Between 2015 and October, 4,833 fugitives suspected of economic crimes were repatriated or persuaded by Chinese police to return from more than 90 countries and regions. Meanwhile, police confiscated 10.46 billion yuan in illicit assets held overseas, according to CCDI statistics.

The commission said more than 900 fugitives are still at large overseas, especially in Western countries, and it has ascertained the whereabouts of 360 of them.

Huang Feng, a professor of law at Beijing Normal University, said evidential materials are essential for detaining suspects and repatriating them to face trial.

"Chinese law enforcement officers face practical difficulties in providing foreign counterparts with sound evidential documents in places such as the US and Canada to form a 'complete chain of evidence'," he said.

This evidence, prepared to better meet the requirements of judicial procedures in foreign countries, is required to break a gridlock of legal technicalities considered to be the biggest obstacle to cooperation on law enforcement between China and other countries, he said.

Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director-general of the Department of Judicial Assistance and Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, said solid information is crucial to requesting assistance in law enforcement from other countries in "identifying, freezing and confiscating the illicit assets that have been sent abroad".

Zhang added that the information mainly includes proof of bribes accepted by officials who abused their power to obtain ill-gotten funds which were then transferred overseas illegally.

Shift of focus

Since late 2012, when China's current leadership took office, an anti-graft campaign has become a top priority nationwide. At international forums, President Xi Jinping has stated repeatedly that China will strengthen judicial cooperation with other countries to combat cross-border corruption and dissuade relevant countries from offering "safe harbors" for suspects.

In 2015, Chinese authorities set up the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group, led by the CCDI, and launched Operation Skynet to chase economic fugitives overseas.

In April 2015, Interpol issued red notices - international alerts requesting provisional arrest with a view to extradition - for 100 major fugitive officials.

To date, 55 have returned from more than 17 countries and regions, including Li, who was ranked No 2 on the list, and Yang Xiuzhu, ranked No 1, who returned to China in November 2016 after 13 years on the run in the US.

As part of a new focus in the hunt, police will not only repatriate officials, but also pay more attention to recovering assets they sent abroad, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Lei Ming, a senior official at the ministry's Economic Crimes Investigation Bureau, said police will also work closely with the Anti-money Laundering Department of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to monitor suspicious flows of assets to other countries, while strengthening management of officials' private passports and tightening border controls to prevent them fleeing the country.

Moreover, authorities will enhance law enforcement cooperation with their counterparts in Western countries on important individual cases, and will share intelligence and conduct joint investigations to locate, freeze and recover stolen assets, he said.

Legal changes

Last month, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the national legislature, reviewed and officially accepted the International Criminal Judicial Assistance Act, which includes articles related to the transfer of fugitives from overseas.

"This law clarifies the conditions and procedures for transferring criminals between China and other countries," said Yang Weidong, a professor of law at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

He added that the new law provides "a legal basis for judicial authorities to enhance cooperation in fighting cross-border, organized crime, including apprehending fugitives and confiscating their illegal assets."

Wan Juan, an official at the CCDI's International Cooperation Bureau said that under the new law if people accused of corruption are on the run overseas the courts will be allowed to issue rulings in their absence.

Before, courts were unable to issue rulings on absent offenders, which meant judicial officers were unable to offer their foreign counterparts judgments required as evidence to detain and repatriate the fugitives, she said.

Thanks to the new law, which took effect on Oct 26, Chinese officials for the first time have the right to request assistance from foreign counterparts in seizing, freezing, confiscating and returning illegally obtained assets.

The law, which clearly defines the tasks and responsibilities of the relevant authorities, is considered "a powerful weapon to legally solve the difficulties that hamper judicial cooperation between China and other countries to enhance the hunting down of fugitives and cutting off the source of their dirty money", said Jiang Laiyong, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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