Chinese paper says China, US to step up anti-graft cooperation

BEIJING: China and the United States are in ‘advanced negotiations’ on returning to China five of its most wanted corruption suspects who have fled to the United States, a state-run newspaper said yesterday.

China has vowed to pursue an overseas search dubbed Operation Fox Hunt for corrupt officials and business executives who have fled abroad, and their assets, part of President Xi Jinping’s war on deep-seated corruption. It has been pushing for extradition treaties but Western countries have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern.

The English-language China Daily, citing a senior unidentified official at the ruling Communist Party’s anti- graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said China and the United States had speeded up talks on the return of the five.

“We will offer relevant evidence to our US counterparts in a timely manner and leave for the US at a proper time to conduct a joint investigation with our counterparts,” the official said.

“We are in advanced negotiations with the US to speed up the process for the fugitives’ return.” The paper said the five included Yang Xiuzhu, a former deputy mayor of Wenzhou in the booming eastern province of Zhejiang, and Xu Chaofan, a former Bank of China regional director in the southern province of Guangdong. — Reuters