'Important to move on this matter,' Canadian foreign minister says

NEW YORK - Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon expressed hopes on Wednesday that extradition matters with China will be advanced as quickly as possible.

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"I have reassured my (Chinese) counterpart that we are doing everything possible to make sure that, ultimately, these people are repatriated back to China to face justice," Cannon told China Daily after addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Cannon was referring to a number of high-profile Chinese fugitives now residing in Canada.

The most notorious Chinese fugitive in Canada is Lai Changxing. China's most wanted man is the alleged leader of a smuggling operation that evaded billions of dollars in taxes and bribed government officials. He has been living in Canada since he fled China in 1999.

But Cannon said only Canadian courts can decide what to do with Chinese nationals accused of crimes in their homeland.

"From a perspective of Canada-China relations, it's important to be able to move on this matter as fast as possible," Cannon said.

Cannon did not say when Canada is likely to sign an extradition treaty with China, but said that the procedure will consider judicial systems in both countries.

"We, before signing an extradition treaty, go out and look at the judicial and legal systems that are in place," he said.

"We make an assessment on compatibility and we decide either to go forward or not to go forward," said Cannon, who became Canada's foreign affairs minister in October, 2008.

Cannon admitted that Canada does not have a large number of extradition treaties in place. "Obviously with the United States we have agreements in place, but it's not with every other country. So it's a task that has not been dealt with by our people or the justice system."

Canadian news reports show that Ottawa has signed extradition treaties with more than 50 countries.

China is not alone in highlighting the difficulties in extraditing fugitives from Canada. The US, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand have all voiced grievances on the issue over the past years.

China has stepped up its efforts in recent years and has signed 37 extradition treaties, including four with Spain, Australia, Portugal and France.

In those four treaties, China has promised not to seek capital punishment for extradited criminals, as these countries do not allow extradition to a country with death penalty.

On a case-by-case basis, several corrupt officials on the run in Canada have also been repatriated back to China in recent years.

In the latest case, Canada repatriated a Chinese man wanted in connection with a 1990s stock fraud case in China. Zeng Hanlin, a businessman from Guangdong, arrived back in China on Feb 17. He had lived in Canada for 12 years.

Zeng, alleged to have been involved in a major contract fraud from October 1997 to August 1998, fled China in 1999 and was denied asylum in Canada.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption, ratified by both China and Canada, requires signatories to cooperate on such issues. Before President Hu Jintao's visit to Canada last June, China and Canada also signed a memorandum to jointly fight crime.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, at least 580 fugitives accused of illegal fundraising, bank fraud, illegal transfer of funds abroad and contract fraud are on the run in other countries, mostly in North America and Southeast Asia, with Canada often cited as a haven for corrupt Chinese officials and fugitives.

Chinese police have seized more than 250 fugitives in 20 countries and regions, including the US and Canada, since 2006, according to figures given by the ministry earlier.

"The crackdown on fugitives can be taken as an international obligation," Dai Peng, head of the investigation department of the Chinese People's Public Security University, told China Daily on Thursday.

"The cooperation between the police of the two countries, to some extent, will be the most effective way to solve this problem," he said.

However, Dai also said the obstacle to signing an extradition treaty concerned different judicial systems.

Wu Ming'an, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the judicial differences between China and Canada concerned both laws and procedures.

"So far, the two countries have no unified standard on convictions that can lead to extraditions," he said.

"In other words, what crimes could lead to extradition might be disputed," he added.

Cao Yin contributed to this story.