China's No 1 fugitive returned by Canadians

THE fugitive at the centre of a 12-year extradition court battle in Canada was returned yesterday to China, where he is accused of running a £6?billion smuggling ring that dealt in everything from cars to oil in a scandal touching the highest levels.

Lai Changxing, 52, who was flown into Beijing from Vancouver, is expected to face charges for bribery, smuggling and tax evasion. He will not face the death penalty in an assurance China gave to Canada to convince courts to extradict him.

Lai, who fled China in 1999, had avoided deportation by arguing he could face the death penalty or be tortured and would not get a fair trial in his home country.

But that legal battle ended on Thursday when a federal court in Vancouver ruled Lai should not be considered a refugee and upheld his deportation.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Lai was arrested by Chinese police at the Beijing International Airport on Saturday afternoon upon his arrival after he was transferred over by the Canadian side.

State-run CCTV television showed police officers holding Lai firmly by the arms and escorting him off an Air Canada plane. The balding and pudgy Lai remained quiet but alert as a police officer read him his rights, including his right to a lawyer.

Lai's concerns about a fair trial and the death sentence are not unwarranted. China executes more people than any other nation, including for economic crimes on a much smaller scale than that with which Lai is charged.

But Lai's alleged criminal operation out of Xiamen, in the southern province of Fujian, overshadowed any other such activity in China, where there are almost weekly reports of a bank manager or government official on the run with millions.

Corruption is rife among officials and employees of state-owned companies, posing what the ruling Communist Party describes as a major threat to China's survival.

Just this month, Xinhua reported that two former vice-mayors in eastern China were executed after being convicted of abuse of power to gain millions.

Lai, described in Chinese news reports as the country's No 1 fugitive, dealt in much higher stakes. Before fleeing to Canada he lived a life of luxury in China complete with a mansion and a bulletproof Mercedes Benz.