With the first global anti-corruption convention finalized and
pending adoption by the United Nations General Assembly,
China hopes to
recover 5 billion yuan (around US$600 million) of assets, stolen by
corrupt government officials and taken overseas.
The new convention will also have a tremendous deterrence impact
on corrupt government officials in China, which will greatly reduce
their chance of evading prosecution, said Shao Daosheng, a
researcher with the China Academy of Social Sciences in an
interview with Xinhua.
The "steal and run" strategy has been used by many greedy Party
and government officials in China, Shao said.
He said a great number of officials suspected of taking bribes
and embezzling are on the run, of which at least 4,000 have fled to
foreign countries with more than five billion yuan, or about US$600
million, worth of assets.
According to experts, the anti-corruption convention's made
breakthroughs in creating provisions to facilitate the return of
assets stolen by officials in one country and transferred to
another.
China has been actively engaged in the formulation of the
convention, according to Shao, which "demonstrates the strong
commitment of the Chinese government in rooting out corruption and
promoting international coordination in this aspect."
The convention is expected to be approved by the UN General
Assembly ahead of a signing ceremony in December. It will come into
force after 30 countries have ratified its provisions into national
law, a process that could take two years or more.
Anti-corruption expert Li Yongzhong said that China is in urgent
need of improving its own legal system for the fight against
corruption in addition to strengthening international
cooperation.
"Economic globalization has also led to an increase of
international crimes in new forms, including the crime of
corruption," Li said.
Loopholes in China's economic and legal system, as well as lack
of coordination with the international community, have encouraged
corrupt officials to escape to foreign countries to avoid
punishment, according to Li.
However, such situations have seen a change for the better, he
said.
The recent UN convention on fighting organized crime and money
laundering, and human trafficking, and the expected adoption of the
anti-corruption convention are "sure to make life harder for the
suspects on the run and make would-be criminals think twice before
they act," Li said.
(People's Daily October 6, 2003)