China says corrupt fugitives that return by Dec. will get reduced punishment

World Today

China is broadening its anti-corruption campaign internationally. The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently stressed the importance of enhancing international cooperation to allow more aggressive extradition and repatriation policies for fugitives fleeing corruption charges and hiding their illicit assets overseas. CCTV America’s Su Yuting reported this story from Beijing.

As part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s aggressive drive to root out corruption, the international campaign Operation Fox Hunt was launched in July to capture suspects who escaped abroad. But China has also offered an olive branch to overseas corruption fugitives, saying that if they return and plead guilty to their crimes before December 1st, they will receive a reduced punishment.

Those who refuse to surrender, risk being caught in China’s widening legal net. It now has cooperation agreements with judicial and law enforcement branches in many countries, including the US, Canada, Australia and several Southeast Asian nations.

“Since starting negotiations on mutual legal assistance and extradition treaties in the 1980s, China has established a legal network for hunting down fugitives… this network now covers major countries on every continent in the world,” said Xu Hong, director general of the treaty and law department at the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

As of November 2014, China has concluded 39 extradition treaties with other countries and 52 criminal judicial assistance treaties, Xu added.

“We have overcome barriers, such as differences in the laws and rules of different countries, and accumulated rich and successful experiences while still abiding by Chinese law’s basic principles,” Xu said.