Lai Changxing, 46, said to be the mastermind of a multi-billion-dollar...

Lai Changxing, 46, said to be the mastermind of a multi-billion-dollar smuggling ring in Hong Kong and the Fujian province in China, was arrested at a casino at Niagara Falls, and taken to Vancouver. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said on Chinese television that he was trying through diplomatic channels to have Lai returned to China as soon as possible. Lai, who applied for a refugee status in June, was fighting deportation because he risked the death penalty in mainland. A Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said that Canada had traditionally been reluctant to extradite people to countries where they could face the death penalty 'because that is not part of our social values'. But Darryl Larson, one of the immigration lawyers representing Lai, said that there have been previous extradition cases. He cited Fang Yong's case, who was deported in 1999 in the belief that he would only face imprisonment, but was subsequently charged with more serious crimes and sentenced to death. Lai, who holds a Hong Kong passport, was fighting to be extradited to Hong Kong where there is no death penalty. There is no extradition treaty with China.