Skynet Campaign
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China to further boost international cooperation on anti-corruption campaign: Officials
Political observers are hailing the effort that the Chinese government has made in its fight against corruption, while suggesting that more international cooperation is key to the capture of economic fugitives who have fled abroad. The 12th International Anti-Corruption Day was marked on Wednesday. A series of actions have been taken in China to fight against corruption, and observers say they have made much progress. Earlier this year, China launched an anti-corruption campaign called 'Skynet', a move designed to capture corrupt officials accused of economic crimes having fled overseas. As of the end of November, over 800 such fugitives have been brought back, with 1.2 billion yuan, or over 180 million U.S. dollars recovered. Among those captured, 18 of them are also on a 'red-notice' list published during the 'Skynet' campaign detailing 100 most wanted corrupt fugitives still at large. One of the most recent cases involved Huang Yurong, a former local official suspected of bribery in central China's Henan Province. Huang surrendered herself to the police and returned voluntarily last week after being at large in the U.S. for 13 years. Deng Zhaofeng, an official from China's Ministry of Public Security, said an increasing number of countries have actively cooperated and pledged to provide no harbor for such fugitives. "We take several measures like extradition, repatriation, persuasion for suspects to return to China so as to seize overseas economic crimes suspects. So far, we have repatriated two escaped suspects from the United States, and extradited six from Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Spain and Hungary. " Li Chengyan, Director of Research Center for Government Integrity Building at Peking University, believed that the achievements can provide reference and experience for further deepening cooperation and creating cooperative avenues between China and other countries. "We will unceasingly enhance research on international cooperation during manhunts in the future, and discuss carefully and conscientiously the implementation of relevant laws as well as the United Nations Convention against Corruption. All those will lay a solid foundation for our next operations." China has concluded more than 30 extradition and 50 criminal judicial assistance treaties with other countries. Liu Jianchao, deputy head of China's National Bureau of Corruption Prevention says the country cannot stay out of the cooperative efforts of anti-corruption and has been playing a significant role in the global anti-corruption campaign. "First, we have strengthened bilateral exchanges with other countries. We also signed memorandums with more than 20 countries and more are willing to sign with us. Second, we have been active in participating in multilateral mechanisms, forums and conferences to discuss international cooperation against corruption. Third, China is also playing an active role in the broader anti-corruption field." In 2014, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption was passed at the APEC meeting held in Beijing. The first international anti-corruption initiative drafted by China. The APEC members adopted the declaration to fight corruption through extradition, judicial assistance and more flexible legal measures. An informal network was also set up for sharing information among anti-corruption and law enforcement authorities in the Asia-Pacific region, based in Beijing.
China's anti-corruption campaign in 2015 fruitful
19 fugitives from a list of 100 people wanted worldwide have been returned to China, since the "Skynet" campaign was launched by the country's anti-graft authorities in a bid to capture corrupt officials who fled abroad. Li Yang with the Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said that "Skynet" is a success marked by coordination of China's judicial, public security, diplomatic and financial departments. "For the first time we repatriated two fugitives from the US. We also extradited four suspects from Europe. Till now we have captured 863 fugitives from 68 countries and regions, including 196 CPC members and officials." As most of those who are still at large now believed in the US, Australia and Canada, Liu Jianchao, also from the CCDI, said the focus of the "Skynet" campaign still lies with these developed countries. But since the related laws in China and the respective countries are different, Liu pointed out that both sides need to exhibit mutual understanding and coordination. "These countries have realised that the fugitives not only damage China's interests, but also their own. So they are more willing to cooperate with us. In fact, we have been communicating with the US, Canada and Australia on extradition mechanisms. We have agreed with the US to co-work on some major cases." Li Yang has promised that China will continue the Skynet campaign in 2016, and strengthen international cooperation in fugitive return and funds recovery. "We strengthen our efforts to return fugitives and recover money, aiming to give the corrupt officials a signal that they have no way to escape. We hope to create an atmosphere that no one dares to be corrupt. As the anti-corruption campaign and international cooperation extend, opportunities for corrupt officials to escape are shrinking." The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Tuesday also released a new summary on China's efforts in combating corruption in 2015. According to the report, more than 43-thousand officials were punished between January and November last year. It also points out that ordinary people in China showed increasing confidence in the anti-corruption campaign in 2015. Surveys showed that 90.6 percent of junior officials felt satisfied with the current anti-corruption efforts. About 65.7 percent of common people regarded the effect of anti-corruption as obvious, an 11.5 percent increase as compared with 2014.
Over 1,000 fugitives returned last year
By Cao Yin China will continue to fight corruption and bring back fugitives after making great progress by having more than 1,000 fugitives returned last year, the nation's top anti-graft watchdog said on Friday. In the eight-month-long "Skynet" campaign, conducted since April by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, 1,023 fugitives were repatriated by the end of last year. Of those, 18 were on the most-wanted list. Wu Yuliang, deputy secretary of the commission, said, "It is the first time that the number of the fugitives brought back to the nation is more than the number of new fugitives." "The fear of corruption has set in, and efforts are underway to end corruption completely," Wu said during a news conference held by the State Council Information Office on Friday. One high-profile fugitive, Ling Wancheng, who fled to the United States and became a US citizen, has interested the public for some time. China continues to investigate the case and is negotiating with the US, said Liu Jianchao, director of the commission's International Cooperation Bureau. The commission has demanded that the US extradite Ling to China. Ling, a wealthy and politically connected businessman, is the youngest brother of Ling Jihua, a high-level official who was held for investigation in July on suspicion of corruption. Before the investigation, Ling Jihua was the head of the Party's United Front Work Department. Earlier, he oversaw the Party's inner sanctum as director of its General Office, a post equivalent to the US White House chief of staff, from 2007 to 2012. In addition to the US, the countries that have extradited fugitives include Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "Corruption has become a cross-border challenge that threatens the world's safety, development and prosperity, so a joint effort against graft worldwide is consistent with the interests of each country," Liu said. "On this issue, China is not an exception." "We'll contribute to the anti-corruption work with a more open mind and efforts, while trying our best to push the ‘Skynet' campaign to return more fugitives, giving them no place to hide," he added. Guo Weimin, spokesman and deputy director of the information office, said: "The fruit of the anti-graft campaign in such a short time also shows the Chinese leadership's determination and confidence in the fight." Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance who specializes in public management and anti-graft studies, applauded the increasing number of fugitives who were repatriated last year. He attributed this to "our efforts in the campaign and more agreements signed with other countries on extradition". "I'm glad to see that the strength of the efforts against fugitives living in developed countries such as Britain and the United States has been improved and the efforts have been speeded up," Zhu said. "But there are still some key countries where fugitives are hiding that have not signed a clear extradition agreement with us, which is our main task to complete this year," he said. "The number of fugitives returned to China will, I believe, leapfrog after we reach such agreements with more countries," he added.
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1 As of last November, more than 850 fugitives were nabbed in the "Skynet" campaign, a move to capture corrupt officials who fled abroad.
2 According to the anti-graft watchdog, a new round of Skynet Campaign will be launched this year to target corruption suspects overseas, through judicial cooperation with other countries.
3 He said that since the launch of the “Skynet Campaign” last year by CCDI, more than 1,000 fugitives were brought back in 2015.