China's deepening anti-corruption drive

[TaiShang]

Corruption curbs good for economy
Source:Agencies

Since assuming power, China's new leadership has focused on curbing official excess, enforcing discipline and combating corruption. Its latest crackdown on graft, especially, has been the fiercest and most sustained since reforms began over three decades ago.

Incredibly, despite the massive public support for the crackdown, some apologists are again singing the broken tune that corruption is an inevitable consequence of economic development. Yet, others said the crackdown would weaken consumer demand and further retard growth, thus affecting employment and social stability.

But it is fact that corruption harms the economy in the long run: it raises transaction costs, undermines public order and weakens entrepreneurship. While corruption does push up the sales and prices of real estate, fine dining and luxury cars, this "irrational exuberance" is a bubble that is bound to burst. And if there really is a price to pay, the Chinese people who have had enough with corruption and the businessmen who have long been exploited by dirty officials would be glad to pay it to rid themselves of the scourge.

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Apec agrees network to share information on corruption

President Xi has promised to go after suspected corrupt officials who have fled abroad
Continue reading the main story

Countries of Asia and the Pacific region have agreed to set up a network to share information on corruption.

Apec members said in a statement that the purpose of the agreement, proposed by China, was to deny safe haven to anyone engaged in corruption.

It comes amid efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to clamp down on corrupt officials, including those who try to escape abroad.

Apec leaders are expected to back the deal at a summit in Beijing next week.

US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the move as a "major step forward".

"Corruption not only creates an unfair playing field, it not only distorts economic relationships, but corruption also steals from the people of every country the belief that the system can work for everybody," he told journalists.

Extradition concerns

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group statement said it had set up the Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET).
bbc

The network commits its 21 member states to "deny safe haven to those engaged in corruption, including through extradition, mutual legal assistance and the recovery and return of proceeds of corruption".

It will also "establish measures and systems to protect whistleblowers".

Officials say that the proposal was initiated by China and backed by the US.

But correspondents say it is not clear how the agreement will work between countries that do not have bilateral extradition treaties.

The US, Canada and Australia - all seen as friendly to Chinese emigrants - have no extradition treaties with China because of concerns about capital punishment and the alleged use of torture in the Chinese judicial system.

China is currently involved in a huge campaign to root out corruption at all levels of society.

More than 13,000 Chinese officials were found guilty of corruption and bribery in the first nine months of 2014 alone.

This year saw the launch of Operation Fox Hunt, widening the scope of the campaign to include officials who have fled abroad.

President Xi has warned that the campaign would target both "tigers" and "flies", indicating that no-one, even senior party members, was exempt from the crackdown.

Since he came to power, some of China's biggest political heavyweights, including the vice-chairman of China's parliament and the former security chief have been targeted.

 

[TaiShang]

China aims for global network on corruption

China hopes to construct a global network during the upcoming G20 summit that will track corrupt officials who had fled the country, a Chinese foreign ministry official said yesterday.

At the APEC economic leaders meeting in Beijing earlier this week, member economies had reached a crucial deal on tracking down corrupt officials on the run, recovering illegal funds and denying entrance of suspects into their territories, Zhang Jun, head of the international economy department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters yesterday.

"If the G20 also takes a step forward in this respect, we would be able to form a global network in the anti-corruption area," Zhang said.

He said it was a consensus of members to put the anti-corruption issue on the agenda of the G20 summit to be held in Brisbane at the weekend.

Zhang said 18 of the G20 members are also members of the UN Convention Against Corruption, while the G20 has set up a work panel on combatting corruption.

China has been stepping up its fight against corruption as it tries to bring more fugitives to justice.

"Under the current situation, it's a very important part of the global anti-corruption effort to establish a worldwide anti-corruption network," Zhang said.

He cited statistics from the World Bank that bribery worldwide costs businesses roughly US$1 trillion every year.

"Just imagine if that was not in the hands of corrupt people, how many things it could be used on and how much in economic returns it could bring about," Zhang said.

As anti-corruption work is closely linked to the growth of the global economy, it is a legitimate item on the G20 agenda, Zhang said.

 

[TaiShang]

Database to track fugitives overseas

China is to set up a database of corrupt officials who have fled overseas, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.

The move comes as more than 150 economic fugitives turned themselves in ahead of the Dec 1 deadline under the "Fox Hunt 2014" campaign, which would grant lenient punishment, the ministry said.

The campaign, launched by the ministry in July, is aimed at catching economic fugitives abroad and confiscating their ill-gotten gains.

On Oct 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court issued a joint statement urging economic fugitives to return to China and confess to their crimes.

The statement said that those who surrendered and returned to China voluntarily before Dec 1 would receive lighter punishments.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, as of Sunday, Chinese police had brought back 335 suspected economic fugitives to stand trial. They captured 181 of them, and 154 turned themselves in. Police also confiscated illegal assets.

In recent years, corrupt Chinese officials have fled to countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and some Southeast Asian and European nations to avoid punishment.

They have transferred a host of illicitly acquired assets abroad, the ministry said. It added that by the end of last year, more than 150 corrupt officials were still at large in the US, with billions of yuan sent illegally to that country through money laundering and underground banks.

"A number of officials have been sent to prosecuting departments to face trial," said Liu Dong, deputy director of the ministry's Economic Crimes Investigation Bureau.

He said courts will also decide how assets seized in the cases should be handled after the suspects are dealt with.

In recent days, China has strengthened judicial cooperation with overseas countries to capture fugitives and recover their gains.

In November, President Xi Jinping emphasized at international seminars he attended the need to hunt fugitives and confiscate their assets.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing at the start of last month, leaders of APEC economies agreed to set up a law enforcement cooperation network to combat corrupt officials.

At the close of their summit in Brisbane, Australia, last month, leaders of G20 economies passed the 2015-16 G20 Anti-corruption Action Plan and committed themselves to increasing cooperation and setting up networks to deny corrupt officials safe havens.

China's top anti-graft watchdog and judicial authorities are preparing to set up a database to trace corrupt officials who flee abroad.

"The database will be publicized on its official website to receive reports from the public at home and abroad," said Huang Shuxian, deputy head of the Communist Party of China Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission.

Huang said China will also speed up negotiations and sign treaties with other countries, including bilateral extradition treaties or agreements on sharing illegal assets that are confiscated.

Huang Feng, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, said the anti-graft declaration agreed by the APEC and G20 leaders is conducive to "building a communication platform and setting up a mechanism among the members to enhance judicial cooperation on hunting fugitives and recovering their assets."

He added that China will also enhance judicial cooperation with countries such as the US, Canada and Australia with the aim of signing extradition treaties, improving judicial assistance and combating money-laundering.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

if we did that in Pakistan, the list would require a network of several super-computers each with high-tech cooling systems just to keep them operationally sound

and if we could round up the several tens of billions of dollars --stolen from Pakistan - stashed overseas in bank accounts in Switzerland, London and the U.S. - we'd go a long way

so bottom line -- good work China.

 

[Edison Chen]

Finally some substantial move, good job. I am wondering why don't do this early. Oh, I know.

 

[TaiShang]

China, US reach consensus on combating corruption - Global Times

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday that China has made headway with the United States on bilateral talks for tracking down fugitive corruption suspects.

Hong told a regular press briefing that the two sides have reached important consensus on strengthening cooperation in the areas of combating corruption, bringing fugitives to law and seizing their illegal proceeds at the 12th meeting of the China-US Joint Liaison Group (JLG) on Law Enforcement Cooperation, held in Beijing last week.

Hong said the Chinese government is determined to stamp out corruption and will bring suspects to law no matter how long they have been on the run and how far they have gone.

The United States is one of the destinations of choice for fugitives.

William Brownfield, the US assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said Friday that the two sides had identified a "finite number of individuals and agreed to develop a strategy to address each of those".

Brownfield co-chaired the law enforcement meeting in Beijing.

The lack of an extradition treaty remains the main obstacle for cooperation between China and the United States, making extradition cooperation difficult.

 

[TaiShang]

Hunts for corrupt officials consolidated via cross-border cooperation

China is calling for more international cooperation on bringing back economic crime fugitives.

China launched its "Fox Hunt 2014" operation in July, targeting corrupt officials and suspects in economic crimes that have fled the country. The goal is to "block the last route of retreat" for corrupt officials as ongoing crackdowns narrow the space for abuse of power.

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing in November, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption was adopted. Cooperation mechanisms are now beginning to bear fruit. This year, China finished 10 negotiations on extradition and administrative judicial treaties.

So far, China has concluded a total of 39 extradition treaties, including 29 that have taken effect; and 52 criminal judicial assistance treaties, with 46 already in force.

In the meantime, law enforcement cooperation between China and the US, Canada and Australia, the three major destinations fugitive Chinese corrupt officials head to, is also making steady progress.

Although there is no extradition treaty between China and the US, cooperation on the issue began over a decade ago. In 2004, Washington repatriated a bank official suspected of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars.

In October, the two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation on the issue. Thanks to cooperation between China and Canada, Lai Changxing, a notorious smuggling kingpin, was repatriated in 2011 after hiding in Canada for 12 years.

In June 2013, China and Canada finished the negotiation of an agreement on sharing and returning recovered assets. It is China's first special agreement on the issue, and it will be signed in near future.

China and Australia have already signed an extradition treaty, however, the Australian parliament has yet to ratify it. During his State visit to Australia, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the issue, and the Australian side said it would accelerate the ratification process, according to analysts.

The UN Convention Against Corruption refers to the hunting of fugitive corrupt officials and the recovery of money. However, some obstacles still exist in cross-border cooperation.

Zhao Yu, a professor with the Chinese People's Public Security University, said that the two countries' political, social, legal and judicial systems are completely different. "In specific cases, the two countries may hold different views on procedures or the identifications of crimes," Zhao added.

The litigation systems and procedures are also different, so that in some countries, like the US and Canada, escaped suspects can delay repatriation through lengthy court appeals.

China's anti-corruption efforts yield results

Tuesday marks the UN International Anti-Corruption Day. The date, December 9th, was established in 2003 by UN General Assembly to raise public awareness of corruption and efforts to fight it. And this year, the theme is 'Break the corruption chain.' For China, in particular, the drive to hunt both high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies" has resulted fruitful achievements.

An all-out war against corruption in China. Since the 18th Congress of the CPC in November 2012, the CPC Central Committee has shown no tolerance nor mercy toward corrupt officials.

Unofficial statistics show that nearly 60 officials of provincial and ministerial level or higher have been investigated for corruption or other serious disciplinary violations since the 18th CPC Congress.

Among them is Zhou Yongkang, a former Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Zhou was placed under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary violation on July 29th this year. On December 5th, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee moved to expel Zhou Yongkang from the CPC and transfer the details of his suspected crimes to judicial organs to be handled in accordance with the law. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate then decided to open an investigation into Zhou’s suspected crimes and arrest him according to the law.

Another case is the fall of Xu Caihou, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Xu was found to have taken advantage of his position to assist in the promotion of others, accepting huge bribes personally and through his family, and to have sought profits for others in exchange for bribes. The investigation into Xu concluded in October, and he is now facing prosecution.

Other prominent figures include Su Rong, then vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, and Bai Enpei, former deputy head of the NPC Environment and Resources Protection Committee, from his deputy post.

According to the work report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, discipline inspection agencies punished about 182,000 officials nationwide in 2013, 13.3 percent more than in 2012. Thirty-one high-profile officials were investigated by the commission itself and eight of them were handed over to prosecutors.

That includes several serious cases such as Bo Xilai and Liu Zhijun. Bo was a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Liu was the former minister of railways.

China launched its Fox Hunt 2014 operation in July, targeting corrupt officials and suspects in economic crimes that have fled the country.

So far, 288 suspects have been seized, including 21 at large for more than a decade, and 84 from developed countries such as the U.S., Canada, Japan and Belgium.

 

[TaiShang]

Canada preparing to return property

Canada and China are ready to sign an agreement to return illegal assets seized from fugitives of economic crime, including corrupt officials, according to a senior Canadian diplomat.

Canada's Ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques told China Daily that the countries have made "good progress this year" in the fight against corruption.

The agreement "is ready to be signed on the return of property related to people who would have fled to Canada and would have been involved in corrupt activities," the ambassador said.

Once the agreement is signed, "it will serve as a model for other countries. I think on that front we should have good progress," he said.

Corrupt Chinese officials and smugglers seeking shelter in Canada have led to long-term controversy.

READ: 503 Chinese on Interpol red notice

In mid November, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies decided to set up a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transnational anti-corruption cooperation in the region.

Beijing and Ottawa have "good collaboration" and have returned more than 1,200 people in the past three years, including more than 60 who were sought in China for criminal reasons, according to the ambassador.

Beijing has made remarkable progress in repatriating fugitive officials and other economic criminals from destinations worldwide.

At least 428 Chinese suspects had been captured abroad by the end of October under Beijing's Fox Hunt 2014 operation.

Saint-Jacques noted the good cooperation between police forces.

"I think this is proceeding very well," he said.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Good. We need to hunt down those corrupt officials who fled to the West, taking our money with them.

I think we will have great cooperation with other countries in this regard.

 

[Galad]

I think we will have great cooperation with other countries in this regard.

If you mean great cooperation with the likes of USA/EU etc -not gonna happen.Not until there is a change in all of them.Their financial institutions are engaged in all kind of illegal activities and nothing is done by police/courts etc.Apart of occasional slap on the wrist.Money laundering,transfer and keeping of ill-gotten money in offshore financial centres are done with active participation of various Western banks.Over 1 trillion equivalent of USD were illicit drained for 2012(or 2013) from BRICS,Mexico,Thailand,Malaysia etc.Entire amount went to the West-investments,acquiring of assets,put in banks or in offshore centres.Money of dictators and corrupt officials from all over the world are always kept in the West.Western countries(look for recent story about Luxemborg which is just the tip of giant iceberg) are actively helping various corporations in their tax evasion activities.Money saved from such activities are again kept in the West.Tens of trillions are being kept in West control offshore centres.So no actual meaningful cooperation not gonna happen.Best you can hope from the West in fight against corruption is occasional token gesture of good will.

 

[Steakhouse]

China probe into military corruption

China's ruling Communist Party will launch a year-long probe into the incomes of military staff, state media said Thursday, following revelations of widespread graft in its armed forces.

Party leaders have described corruption as a key threat to China's military modernisation campaign, which has seen double digit increases in the army budget for more than a decade.

China's Central Military Commission, headed by President Xi Jinping, will conduct an "investigation of all military personnel", the state-run Global Times said.

The audit will be overseen by the head of the army's general logistics department Zhao Keshi, and will look into "all cash flows, receipts and expenses" to find evidence of embezzlement, said official army media according to the report.

The investigation will be "will be far reaching and may involve conflicts of interest", it cited Zhao as saying.

Xi heads the military and the Communist Party and has vowed a crackdown against endemic corruption, an issue that has long drawn widespread public anger in China.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) said last month it launched investigations into 16 senior officers at corps level and above in 2014.

Top Chinese military officer Gu Junshan was formally charged with corruption last year after he was exposed as owning dozens of homes, state media reported.

Officials seized "a gold boat, a gold wash basin and a gold statue of Mao Zedong" along with "crates of expensive liquor" from one of Gu's residences, reports said at the time.

Xi's campaign also led last year to the ousting of Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

But the Communist Party has not introduced reforms such as official asset declaration or independent courts and media, and critics have said that the anti-graft drive is politically motivated.

 

[grand]

China's deepening anti-corruption drive

After the downfall of Zhou Yongkang, many see Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive has reached its peak. Apparently not.

Yesterday's news conference, the spokesman of CPPCC Lu Xinghua said that more tigers would be captured and there is no "iron-cap prince (the untouchable)" before the anti-corruption drive.

Rumor has it that Jiang Zeming's in-law and former CCP standing committee member Jia Qinglin has been in detention for sometimes now. He will be the next to fall.

 

[TaiShang]

China reforms, China progresses. Dialectically, on its own pace and based on its own historical dynamics.

No one has impunity in anti-corruption drive

Xinhua, March 2, 2015

China's anti-corruption effort "has no limit or ceiling" and "no one has impunity," a spokesman of the Chinese political advisory body said on Monday.

Lyu Xinhua, spokesman for the third session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remark when asked to comment on media reports that there might be "bigger tigers", or senior-level corrupt officials, brought down in the country's anti-corruption drive.

Over the past year, the Communist Party of China made an all-out effort, adopted a "zero-tolerance attitude" and "left no stones untouched" in fighting against corruption, said the spokesman.

Endeavors have been made to create a political climate in which officials "dare not, cannot and wish not commit corruption," with good progress being achieved, he said.

Lyu said he personally held that there is no point in making such speculations on "bigger tigers" but it is perfectly understandable that the general public and media believe that if "bigger tigers" do exist, they should be exposed.

"In fighting against corruption, it is important to deal with any and all corruption cases brought to our attention," said the spokesman.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to target high-ranking "tigers" as well as low-ranking "flies" in his anti-corruption drive since the new leadership took office in 2013.

The sweeping campaign has brought down a number of high-profile officials, such as Zhou Yongkang, Xu Caihou, Ling Jihua and Su Rong.

 

[AndrewJin]

Hope it goes well with Mr. Xi and his campaign.

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

Chinese ex-general accused of corruption Xu Caihou dies of cancer

A top Chinese general who was accused of taking bribes and expelled from the Communist Party has died of cancer, state media say.

Xu Caihou, 71, was a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a member of the powerful politburo.

He died on Sunday of multiple organ failure brought on by bladder cancer, Xinhua news agency said.

China's president has made weeding out corruption in the military a top goal.

Authorities said in October that Xu Caihou had confessed to taking "massive" bribes in exchange for assisting in promotions. He had been under investigation since early last year, state media said.

His rank as general had been revoked but charges had not yet been announced.

Xinhua reported that the criminal investigation against him would now be dropped because of his death but his "illegal gains" would be dealt with according to the law.

Corruption crackdown
Xu Caihou rose through the ranks to become the second most senior officer in the People's Liberation Army - made up of 2.3 million people - behind President Xi Jinping.

He was also a member of the 25-person Politburo - the power-base of the Communist Party.

In 2012, Mr Xi declared a sweeping corruption crackdown and several high-profile officials or businessmen have since been arrested, including China's former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang.

Xu Caihou was the most senior member of the military to be targeted as part of the campaign.