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Usually the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation（APEC） is a forum for members to discuss economic subjects and promote free trade cooperation. However， China， as the host of 2014 APEC Beijing Summit， has made anti-corruption an untraditional major topic for the forum. It is not particularly unexpected though， considering China is in the middle of a national campaign against graft.
On November 6， the last Senior Officials’ Meeting （SOM） of this year’s APEC was concluded in Beijing. Earlier reports quoted Alan Bollard， executive director of the APEC Secretariat， as saying at a news briefing that member economies have agreed to pass on information on particular cases with one another， and an anti-corruption statement （known as the“Beijing Statement”） proposed by the last SOM will be concluded in outcome documents and submit to the upcoming Dual-Ministerial Meeting.
With the statement， China takes another procedural step on the road to establish a cross-border cooperation platform for the battle against corruption. Conventionally the state-ment will soon be officially announced after the Informal Leadership Meeting. According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and China APEC Development Council Chairman Zhang Lijun， the statement will be one of the most important achievements of APEC Beijing summit.
Lin Zhe， anti-corruption specialist and Professor of China’s Central Party School， pointed out that the progress in establishing the anti-corruption network shows the support from international society to China’s battle against corruption， and will help Chinese government push the movement in depth. Corrupt officials and other criminal suspects will be running out of places to hide.
The Beijing Statement on Anti-Corruption
China has been pushing a crackdown on corruption and a large number of corrupt officials got punished or investigated for that reason since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party. Meanwhile， there is still a tough nut for Chinese government to crack： there are still a huge number of crooked officials remain at large by fleeing overseas.
How many corrupt Chinese officials are hiding abroad？ The government hasn’t revealed the exact number yet， but according to Chief Procurator Cao Jianming of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate， 6694 corrupt crime suspects were hunted down overseas during the five years from 2008 to May 2013.
A research conducted by the People’s Bank of China shows that more than 10000 corrupt officials and executives of state-owned enterprises of China have disappeared or fled the country with illicit funds as huge as 800 billion yuan since the 1990s. “The Party Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping attach great importance to seizing corrupt officials overseas and recovering money illegally moved abroad. Relevant authorities will push harder in international negotiations， striving to bring every escaped corrupt official in justice. Foreign countries won’t be safe harbors for criminals any more， not even the remotest corner of the earth，” said Huang Shuxian， Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for CPC Discipline Inspections. Huang also oversees the international coordination for China’s Central Anti-corruption Coordination Group.
“Our campaign to seize fleeing officials and retrieve what they have stolen will become an important aspect of our political and diplomatic ties with other nations， focused on persuading foreign governments not to harbor these criminals，”added Huang Shuxian.
Chinese government also has launched the “Fox Hunt 2014 Operation” which widens the national anti-corruption campaign to those who have fled abroad. From July 22 to the year end， China’s public security authorities will focus on hunting and arresting fleeing economic crime suspects abroad. By the end of this September， more than 100 suspects were found overseas and delivered back to China.
Extradition is a major approach for cross-border criminal pursuit. By the end of this July， China has concluded bilateral extradition deal with 38 countries. However， among the signatories， most of them are developing countries. Most western countries haven’t sign the deal with China， which makes them popular destinations for Chinese corrupt officials.
And this is the initial drive for China to set up a crossborder anti-corruption network. “Beijing Statement is first proposed by China，” said Alan Bollard.
Bollard also said that Beijing Statement will include the principles for the international cooperation against corruption and set up an information sharing mechanism across the APEC region. By then， justice departments of member economies will be able to share and pass on information on corruption cases with one another and enforce cross-border pursuit if necessary.
Anti-corruption Cooperation
China’s effort on cross-border pursuit after fleeing of-ficials and illicit assets need to be strengthened urgently， especially compared with the sweeping momentum of its domestic anti-corruption campaign. To push forward progress through APEC has been on the agenda of China’s policy makers for some time. China assumes rotating presidency of APEC this year， thusly China’s Supervision Department also acts as president of the anti-corruption panel of APEC. During the third SOM of APEC 2014 held in Beijing from August 6 to 22， anticorruption became a recurring topic of several meetings and discussions.
On August 13， China’s Supervision Department convened the 19th meeting of APEC’s anti-corruption panel. The meeting initiated the APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies （ACT-NET）， which is designed to facilitate APEC members’ cooperation and information sharing in hunting fugitive officials and recovering ill-gotten money. It is a milestone of China’s construction of international anti-corruption network.
Attendants of the meeting agreed unanimously to upgrade their cooperation on eliminating harbourage and chasing corruption crime suspects as an effort to crack down on political and business bribery.
At the beginning of November， Beijing convened the last SOM of this year’s APEC. Member economies discussed on the “Beijing Statement” and agreed to submit it to the DualMinisterial Meeting. During an earlier briefing， Alan Bollard mentioned that the anti-corruption statement was proposed not only by the leadership of China， but also by the United States. According to Bollard， the soon-to-release Beijing Statement will clarify the institutional arrangement of the crossborder cooperation across member economies.
“This is a necessary step to track cases across borders within the APEC region and to follow up and recover assets if they are illegally moved，” Bollard said.
However， it remains unknown whether the Beijing Statement as part of the meeting declaration will be released independently or not.
“China is intensifying its effort in fighting corruptions and we hope all major member economies of APEC support China for that matter and enhance cooperation on extraditing crooked officials and economic crime suspects. It takes teamwork of major economies across the Asian-pacific region to reach an internal consensus.” said Zhang Lijun.
“If the anti-corruption statement proposed by China can be released as a joint declaration of the summit， it will be of great significance and demonstrate the resolution of member economies to fight international crimes. It will also provide the support that China needs to eliminate graft.” said Lin Zhe.
Fill the Gap
To push forward the international anti-corruption cooperation under the APEC framework is a critical step for China to fill the gap in the dam against corruption. According to the White Book of China’s Anti-corruption and Clean Government Campaign issued by the State Council Information Office at the end of 2010， China had signed 106 justice aid treaties of all kinds with 68 countries and regions. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate also had signed prosecutorial cooperation agreements with its counterparts from more than 80 countries and regions.
By the end of this July， China had concluded deals involving criminal justice aid with 51 countries and extradition treaties with 38 countries.
Specialists note that countries are not obliged to extradite foreign fugitives in the light of international law， unless they have signed an extradition treaty. The fact is， most of the western countries haven’t signed such treaties with China， mainly because there are several crimes still punishable by death penalty in China.
As Lin Zhe has pointed out， without the extradition treaty， there will still be a lot of obstacles restraining the international cooperation even if both countries are members of the UN Convention Against Corruption. The “Principle of Political Offense Exception” and the “Principle of Nonextradition of Death Penalty” of the Convention can make certain western countries the perfect safe harbor for China’s fugitive officials.
The recently adjourned Standing Committee Meeting of China’s National People’s Congress reviewed and revised the death provisions of the law against fraudulent fund-raising and other crimes. Lin Zhe believes that the abolition of certain death penalties will help China dismiss other countries’concerns， clear the way for extradition and lead to a better prospect of international anti-corruption cooperation.
On November 6， the last Senior Officials’ Meeting （SOM） of this year’s APEC was concluded in Beijing. Earlier reports quoted Alan Bollard， executive director of the APEC Secretariat， as saying at a news briefing that member economies have agreed to pass on information on particular cases with one another， and an anti-corruption statement （known as the“Beijing Statement”） proposed by the last SOM will be concluded in outcome documents and submit to the upcoming Dual-Ministerial Meeting.
With the statement， China takes another procedural step on the road to establish a cross-border cooperation platform for the battle against corruption. Conventionally the state-ment will soon be officially announced after the Informal Leadership Meeting. According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and China APEC Development Council Chairman Zhang Lijun， the statement will be one of the most important achievements of APEC Beijing summit.
Lin Zhe， anti-corruption specialist and Professor of China’s Central Party School， pointed out that the progress in establishing the anti-corruption network shows the support from international society to China’s battle against corruption， and will help Chinese government push the movement in depth. Corrupt officials and other criminal suspects will be running out of places to hide.
The Beijing Statement on Anti-Corruption
China has been pushing a crackdown on corruption and a large number of corrupt officials got punished or investigated for that reason since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party. Meanwhile， there is still a tough nut for Chinese government to crack： there are still a huge number of crooked officials remain at large by fleeing overseas.
How many corrupt Chinese officials are hiding abroad？ The government hasn’t revealed the exact number yet， but according to Chief Procurator Cao Jianming of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate， 6694 corrupt crime suspects were hunted down overseas during the five years from 2008 to May 2013.
A research conducted by the People’s Bank of China shows that more than 10000 corrupt officials and executives of state-owned enterprises of China have disappeared or fled the country with illicit funds as huge as 800 billion yuan since the 1990s. “The Party Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping attach great importance to seizing corrupt officials overseas and recovering money illegally moved abroad. Relevant authorities will push harder in international negotiations， striving to bring every escaped corrupt official in justice. Foreign countries won’t be safe harbors for criminals any more， not even the remotest corner of the earth，” said Huang Shuxian， Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for CPC Discipline Inspections. Huang also oversees the international coordination for China’s Central Anti-corruption Coordination Group.
“Our campaign to seize fleeing officials and retrieve what they have stolen will become an important aspect of our political and diplomatic ties with other nations， focused on persuading foreign governments not to harbor these criminals，”added Huang Shuxian.
Chinese government also has launched the “Fox Hunt 2014 Operation” which widens the national anti-corruption campaign to those who have fled abroad. From July 22 to the year end， China’s public security authorities will focus on hunting and arresting fleeing economic crime suspects abroad. By the end of this September， more than 100 suspects were found overseas and delivered back to China.
Extradition is a major approach for cross-border criminal pursuit. By the end of this July， China has concluded bilateral extradition deal with 38 countries. However， among the signatories， most of them are developing countries. Most western countries haven’t sign the deal with China， which makes them popular destinations for Chinese corrupt officials.
And this is the initial drive for China to set up a crossborder anti-corruption network. “Beijing Statement is first proposed by China，” said Alan Bollard.
Bollard also said that Beijing Statement will include the principles for the international cooperation against corruption and set up an information sharing mechanism across the APEC region. By then， justice departments of member economies will be able to share and pass on information on corruption cases with one another and enforce cross-border pursuit if necessary.
Anti-corruption Cooperation
China’s effort on cross-border pursuit after fleeing of-ficials and illicit assets need to be strengthened urgently， especially compared with the sweeping momentum of its domestic anti-corruption campaign. To push forward progress through APEC has been on the agenda of China’s policy makers for some time. China assumes rotating presidency of APEC this year， thusly China’s Supervision Department also acts as president of the anti-corruption panel of APEC. During the third SOM of APEC 2014 held in Beijing from August 6 to 22， anticorruption became a recurring topic of several meetings and discussions.
On August 13， China’s Supervision Department convened the 19th meeting of APEC’s anti-corruption panel. The meeting initiated the APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies （ACT-NET）， which is designed to facilitate APEC members’ cooperation and information sharing in hunting fugitive officials and recovering ill-gotten money. It is a milestone of China’s construction of international anti-corruption network.
Attendants of the meeting agreed unanimously to upgrade their cooperation on eliminating harbourage and chasing corruption crime suspects as an effort to crack down on political and business bribery.
At the beginning of November， Beijing convened the last SOM of this year’s APEC. Member economies discussed on the “Beijing Statement” and agreed to submit it to the DualMinisterial Meeting. During an earlier briefing， Alan Bollard mentioned that the anti-corruption statement was proposed not only by the leadership of China， but also by the United States. According to Bollard， the soon-to-release Beijing Statement will clarify the institutional arrangement of the crossborder cooperation across member economies.
“This is a necessary step to track cases across borders within the APEC region and to follow up and recover assets if they are illegally moved，” Bollard said.
However， it remains unknown whether the Beijing Statement as part of the meeting declaration will be released independently or not.
“China is intensifying its effort in fighting corruptions and we hope all major member economies of APEC support China for that matter and enhance cooperation on extraditing crooked officials and economic crime suspects. It takes teamwork of major economies across the Asian-pacific region to reach an internal consensus.” said Zhang Lijun.
“If the anti-corruption statement proposed by China can be released as a joint declaration of the summit， it will be of great significance and demonstrate the resolution of member economies to fight international crimes. It will also provide the support that China needs to eliminate graft.” said Lin Zhe.
Fill the Gap
To push forward the international anti-corruption cooperation under the APEC framework is a critical step for China to fill the gap in the dam against corruption. According to the White Book of China’s Anti-corruption and Clean Government Campaign issued by the State Council Information Office at the end of 2010， China had signed 106 justice aid treaties of all kinds with 68 countries and regions. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate also had signed prosecutorial cooperation agreements with its counterparts from more than 80 countries and regions.
By the end of this July， China had concluded deals involving criminal justice aid with 51 countries and extradition treaties with 38 countries.
Specialists note that countries are not obliged to extradite foreign fugitives in the light of international law， unless they have signed an extradition treaty. The fact is， most of the western countries haven’t signed such treaties with China， mainly because there are several crimes still punishable by death penalty in China.
As Lin Zhe has pointed out， without the extradition treaty， there will still be a lot of obstacles restraining the international cooperation even if both countries are members of the UN Convention Against Corruption. The “Principle of Political Offense Exception” and the “Principle of Nonextradition of Death Penalty” of the Convention can make certain western countries the perfect safe harbor for China’s fugitive officials.
The recently adjourned Standing Committee Meeting of China’s National People’s Congress reviewed and revised the death provisions of the law against fraudulent fund-raising and other crimes. Lin Zhe believes that the abolition of certain death penalties will help China dismiss other countries’concerns， clear the way for extradition and lead to a better prospect of international anti-corruption cooperation.