(Source: China Daily 2024-05-21)
May 20, 2024,Associate Professor Ji Ying and Associate Professor Li Xiaoou in our collegeAccepted an interview with a reporter from China Daily on issues related to my country's cross-border anti-corruption work.
In order to promote the prevention of the escape of corruption suspects, the pursuit of fugitives, the recovery of stolen money and stolen goods, and the cross-border corruption governance system, our country continues to improve the legal framework and strengthen international cooperation. The Ministry of Public Security recently launched the "Fox Hunt 2024" special operation targeting fleeing economic crime suspects, instructing public security agencies to increase investigation and handling of key cases and expand law enforcement cooperation channels. Since 2014, through Operation "Fox Hunt", approximately 9,000 economic crime suspects have been arrested in more than 120 countries and regions and handed over to China, and a total of approximately 49 billion yuan (approximately US$6.77 billion) in assets have been recovered. This operation is part of the "Skynet" operation launched in 2015 by the International Fugitive and Asset Recovery Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group. This year's "Skynet" operation was launched in March, aiming to maintain a high-pressure posture on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery, deepen cross-border corruption management, and promote a comprehensive mechanism to prevent escapes, hunt down fugitives, and recover assets.
Associate Professor Ji Yingpointed out that in the past decade, Operation "Skynet" has continued to hunt down overseas fugitives and recover illegal assets, fully demonstrating China's determination to resolutely fight corruption. In current corruption cases, foreign-related factors are increasingly prominent. Some cases span a long time span and have few effective clues. There is an urgent need for more in-depth international cooperation. Challenges such as money laundering activities by criminals, complex financial systems in different countries, and poor enforcement of anti-money laundering regulations make the process of asset recovery more complex. The high cost of asset recovery and the attitude of the country where the assets are located also affect the recovery process. In addition, most countries that have signed extradition treaties with China are developing countries, and the main destinations of Chinese fugitives (such as the United States, Canada, and Australia) lack effective bilateral extradition treaties with China, which increases the difficulty of effective extradition cooperation with these countries.
Associate Professor Ji YingPointed out that China continues to improve its anti-corruption-related legislation and mechanisms to address these challenges and adapt to new needs. As of October last year, China had signed 171 bilateral judicial assistance treaties with 83 countries and joined nearly 30 international conventions covering judicial assistance and extradition, with cooperation covering more than 130 countries. In June 2014, the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group’s International Fugitive and Asset Recovery Office was established, and subsequently similar offices were set up in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. In March 2018, my country established comprehensive supervisory committees at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, and promulgated the Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China, which clarified the regulations on international anti-corruption cooperation. In October 2018, my country promulgated the International Criminal Judicial Assistance Law and revised the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China to add absentee trial procedures. The "Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (Eleven)" passed at the end of 2020 further improved the crime of money laundering. Last July, the Foreign Relations Law of the People's Republic of China was promulgated, emphasizing deepening international law enforcement cooperation mechanisms and improving the judicial assistance system. In addition, the Anti-Money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China is also being revised.
Associate Professor Li Xiaooupointed out that current corruption cases also show new characteristics related to the Internet, such as the emergence of new cross-border money laundering methods and virtual currency money laundering. International cooperation in cross-border evidence collection and the increasingly difficult investigation of digital crimes continue to pose challenges. In addition to strengthening judicial cooperation with foreign countries, more research and legislation on foreign-related rule of law should be conducted, especially to resolve conflicts between Chinese laws and the laws of the countries where corrupt elements are located. The United Nations Convention against Corruption provides a basic framework for fugitive pursuit and asset recovery, but the huge differences in culture, values and legal systems between countries mean that more efforts are still needed to achieve successful cross-border pursuit and asset recovery. China has joined the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Domestic laws need to be further aligned with the Convention, and mechanisms for cross-border pursuit of fugitives and asset recovery need to be fully implemented. As efforts to hunt down fugitives and recover illegal assets continue to intensify, many fugitives have voluntarily surrendered. Aggressively pursuing fugitives is an effective way to prevent them from fleeing abroad, and expanding achievements in fugitive repatriation have a powerful deterrent effect.
Attachment: Original link
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202405/21/WS664cbe6fa31082fc043c85e0.html
