Reuters, New York :
U.S. 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 U.S. herself, and at least one more is in a U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 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 U.S. 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 U.S. immigration violations in September.
U.S. 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 U.S. herself, and at least one more is in a U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 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 U.S. 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 U.S. immigration violations in September.
