Top legislature passes extradition treaties with Ethiopia, Argentina
China’s top legislature ratified extradition treaties with Ethiopia and Argentina on Tuesday, a move that experts said further strengthens China’s crackdown on crimes, even as prejudice against China from some countries makes it difficult to sign more extradition treaties.
The National People’s Congress ( NPC) Standing Committee on Tuesday approved the treaties at the last meeting of its bimonthly session, according to the NPC website.
“The treaties show that China is strengthening international cooperation against crime, which may prompt more countries, not only in Africa and South America, but all over the world, to cooperate with China,” Zhu Feng, a professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies, told the Global Times.
As of February 2017, China had signed treaties with 34 countries, including Russia, France and South Korea, Ministry of Foreign Affairs data shows.
“However, it will take time before China signs extradition treaties with all countries. Many countries are biased against China’s human rights record and independent judicial system,” Zhu said.
“Other countries will gradually realize that delaying the signing of an extradition treaty with China doesn’t conform to their domestic conditions,” Huang Feng, director of the Institute for International Criminal Law at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times.
“It is a win- win move. Hastening a deal with China could make it possible for China to hand fugitives to their home countries and allow these fugitives to be prosecuted there,” Huang said.
Extradition treaties with Argentina and Ethiopia were signed on May 10, 2013 and May 4, 2014, respectively, the NPC website said.
The treaties provide for extradition obligations, crimes qualified for extradition, reasons to refuse extradition, costs, and dispute resolution procedures, among others, the NPC website said.
Zhu noted that it is also a chance for China to further improve the independent judicial system, by which criminals who are extradited to the homeland could receive fairer justice.