‘Fugitives live openly in US’

China’s ‘wanted’

FORT LAUDERDALE/NEW YORK/SEATTLE/VANCOUVER Dec 21, (RTRS): US and Canadian officials have pledged to work with China to track down and repatriate Chinese fugitives living abroad. But that cooperation is proving to have clear limits.

So far, only one person on China’s Operation Sky Net list of 100 most wanted fugitives - 46 of whom were believed to be in the United States and Canada - has been returned to China from either country.

Another woman on the list chose to return to China from the US herself, and at least one more is in a US immigration detention center awaiting deportation.

Reuters found that many of the remaining North American suspects on the list, like Florida businessman Wei Chen and British Columbia mushroom farmer Wang Qingwei, are living openly as legal immigrants and have heard nothing from the US or Canadian governments since the Sky Net list was published in April.

“The list has ruined my life, but I’m not hiding,” said Chen, a US citizen since 2005, in an interview with Reuters. “I don’t know about the other 99 people, but I didn’t do what they said.”

Liu

Corruption

Liu Jianchao, China’s minister in charge of repatriating corruption suspects, told Reuters that 17 of 100 Sky Net fugitives have been returned so far, mostly from countries with close ties to China, including Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Uganda.

Neither the United States nor Canada has an extradition treaty with China, partly because they question the integrity of its judicial system and treatment of prisoners. That has meant that the only people on China’s list who have so far faced deportation in North America are those found to have committed crimes or immigration violations since arriving.

One of them, Yang Xiuzhu, 69, told Reuters she entered the US on a fake passport. She is in custody awaiting deportation proceedings and has filed for asylum.

The one corruption suspect on the wanted list returned to China from North America so far was Yang’s brother, who was deported for US immigration violations in September.

The United States has carefully calibrated its public statements on the assistance it will offer China. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the US will “vigorously pursue prosecutions” against fugitives sought by China “where there is alleged money laundering or other criminal activity in this country.”

However, US officials have also made clear that they would need to see China’s evidence of crimes before offering full cooperation. A former US security official, who asked not to be named, said China has provided virtually no evidence so far against the alleged fugitives.

Corrupt

Canada, which elected a new federal government in October, has said it will continue to work on a deal with China to return corrupt officials in exchange for a share of the assets seized, which would be considered proceeds of the individual’s crimes

While Canada does not have an extradition treaty with China, if an individual is found to have lied on a visa application - as in falsely stating that money brought into the country was obtained legally when it was not- residency can be revoked.

At least one corruption suspect in Canada and one in the US have been awarded citizenship, and many more have been granted permanent residency. Those located by Reuters questioned why they were on the list.

Miami businessman Chen is accused by China of misappropriating public funds while working at the state-owned Haomen Group. Chinese authorities declined requests from Reuters to elaborate on the charges.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Chen denied the allegations to a Reuters reporter. Chen said he suspects that officials blame him for the overall decline of Haomen’s business after it entered into a poorly-fated joint venture with French company Danone group.

He said he expected to hear from US officials after finding himself on the list but has not. He received a call last month from a Chinese anticorruption officer only after Reuters made inquiries about his case there. Chen said the official would not elaborate on why he is on the list.