China works with Asean countries for return of corrupt officials
China and Asean countries will set up a regional anti-corruption legal framework to facilitate the return of corrupt Chinese officials who are still at large in Asean countries and confiscate their ill-gotten assets, a senior anti-graft official said.
China is in advanced negotiations with some Asean countries, including Thailand and Laos, to sign bilateral anti-corruption agreements.
Meanwhile, China intends to start discussions with Asean countries, including Malaysia, to sign bilateral extradition treaties to bring more fugitives back to face trial, said Liu Jianchao, director of the International Cooperation Bureau under the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
At present, China has signed bilateral anti-corruption agreements with four Asean countries and has signed extradition treaties with six Asean members, according to the CCDI.
“Such a regional anti-corruption mechanism will provide us a legal basis to enhance judicial cooperation with Asean countries in fighting cross-border corruption and improving working efficiency,” he said on the sidelines of the China-Asean Anti-Corruption Workshop held from Tuesday to Thursday in Yuxi, Yunnan province.
It’s the first time China and Asean countries have held such a high-ranking meeting on anti-graft cooperation.
According to Yang Xiaochao, secretary-general at the CCDI, China and Asean countries will focus on practical actions to extend approaches for anti-corruption cooperation. They will further strengthen cooperation on intelligence sharing, case investigation, training programs and conducting joint operations.
In recent years, many Chinese corrupt officials have fled to Southeast Asian countries to avoid legal punishment due to convenient travel and easy visa application procedures.
Meanwhile, they have illegally sent millions of yuan in illegal assets to foreign accounts through money laundering and underground banks.
Since last April, when Interpol issued red notices to arrest 100 major corrupt fugitives, six have returned from Asean countries to stand trial, including Li Huabo, a former finance official from Jiangxi province.
Li, accused of embezzling public funds worth 94 million yuan ($13.8 million), returned to China in May last year after spending four years on the run in Singapore.
“Corruption, as the root cause of many global problems, hampers economic growth, exacerbates social injustice and destroys democracy and the rule of law,” Yang said. “We will resolutely crack down on cross-border corruption to realize regional economic sustainable development.”
As developing countries, China and Asean nations have “more similar development agendas, anti-corruption tasks, as well as challenges and problems, so we need to join hands to tackle transnational corruption,” he said.
According to him, China and Asean countries will improve anti-corruption capacity building and do more research on cracking down on cross-border business bribery and nabbing fugitives. China will also offer necessary technical and facility support to Asean countries.
Moreover, they will extend the crackdown to the fields of government procurement, budget transparency, construction supervision and mining, as well as the management of financial flows, which are more closely linked to development.
“Corruption has seriously affected economic prosperity, social stability and government credibility. China and Asean countries need to work together in eradicating the corruption ‘cancer’ and have sustainable development,” said Martin Kreutner, dean of the International Anti-Corruption Academy.
“It’s a top priority to enhance information sharing between China and Asean countries, tighten supervision and prevent the suspicious flow of ill-gotten gains transferred abroad through money laundering,” Mohamad Yusoff Akope, director of the inspection and consultancy division of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
