Chinese anti-graft official visits Interpol amid campaign to track down fugitives

[LookAround]

Chinese anti-graft official visits Interpol amid campaign to track down fugitives overseas

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 12:30pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 12:30pm

Reuters in Beijing

A deputy head of China's anti-corruption agency, Zhao Hongzhu, visited the international police agency in France. Photo: Chinanews.com

A deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party’s graft watchdog visited Interpol as part of a trip to France to push for greater international cooperation in China’s fight against corruption, state media said on Thursday.

The government unveiled an initiative called Sky Net earlier this year to better coordinate its fight to return corrupt officials and published a list of 100 suspects believed to be abroad and subject to an Interpol “red notice”.

Officials say only about 10 people on that list have been returned to China so far, from countries with close ties to Beijing.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said that Zhao Hongzhu, a deputy head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, met French government officials, including the justice minister and then went to Interpol headquarters in Lyon on a trip that ended this week.

"The main point was to increase international cooperation in fighting corruption and exchange views on recovering dirty assets and corruption suspects,” Xinhua said, without elaborating.

Interpol, in a statement on its website, said that Secretary General Jürgen Stock told Zhao he valued its cooperation with China.

President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping campaign against graft since assuming power in late 2012, but has been hampered by difficulty in getting corrupt officials and assets back from overseas.

READ MORE: China's graft-busters release list of 100 wanted fugitives in Operation Sky Net

China does not have extradition treaties with the United States or Canada - the two most popular destinations for suspected economic criminals.

Western countries have baulked at signing extradition deals with China, partly out of concern about the integrity of its judicial system and treatment of prisoners.

Rights groups say the Chinese authorities use torture and that the death penalty is common in corruption cases.