CHINA: PLEDGE NOT TO EXECUTE A LONGTIME FUGITIVE IN CANADA HONOURED

Lai Changxing, who spent 12 years on the run in Canada as China’s most notorious fugitive, was sentenced to life in prison for smuggling and bribery in a lurid corruption case that reached into the highest echelons of the Communist Party and involved a decade-long extradition fight.
The sentencing marked an end for what a decade ago had been one of China’s biggest political scandals.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Lai Changxing, 53, was convicted and sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court in Xiamen, the port city which was his base. On top of the life sentence for smuggling and a concurrent 15-year sentence for bribery, the court ordered all of Lai’s personal property seized, Xinhua said.
At his peak in the 1990s Lai Changxing was one of China’s richest tycoons, presiding over a multi-billion-dollar empire built on imported luxury cars, crude oil, booze and cigarettes, and huge construction projects. But it fell apart when Beijing prosecutors accused him of heading a criminal organization that bought corrupt Communist Party protectors, and he fled to Canada.
After a lengthy extradition battle and diplomatic negotiations Canadian authorities extradited him to China on July 22, 2011 upon promises that he would not be executed.
Formally at least, Beijing has made good on its pledge. Yet there’s still reason for concern for his safety. This has been described as China’s biggest economic crime case. His brother has died in custody, after being jailed in the same case. So has his accountant. Still, Beijing would be wise to honour not only the letter but also the spirit of this extradition agreement.