China says graft suspect on run in Canada gives self up

[BEIJING] A man on China's list of 100 most wanted corruption suspects abroad has given himself up and returned to China after almost a decade on the run in Canada, China's graft-busting watchdog said on Monday.

In 2015, authorities published a list of 100 of the most wanted corruption suspects who had been targeted with an Interpol red notice, many living in the United States, Canada and Australia.

In a brief notice on its website, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that Li Shiqiao had been "persuaded to return" and surrender.

Li, who had been a manager at a real estate company in the city of Ningbo, fled to Canada in April 2009 and is suspected of corruption, the watchdog said, without giving details.

It said he was the 40th person on the list to have been captured.

It was not possible to reach Li or a family or legal representative for comment.

China has pursued an overseas search dubbed Operation Fox Hunt for corrupt officials and business executives who have fled abroad with their assets, part of President Xi Jinping's war on deep-seated corruption.

It has been pushing for extradition treaties but Western countries have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people back to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern and there is a lack of due legal process.

Canada's ambassador to China said last year that Canada had agreed to start talks about an extradition treaty with China rather than formal negotiations for such a deal, adding that Canadian law had to be respected.

REUTERS