Amid the diplomatic wrangle over Beijing's calls for Canada to extradite alleged smuggler Lai Changxing , the motive for the pursuit lies in the claim that Lai succeeded in subverting the government of an entire city.
A semi-literate peasant who did not finish primary school, Lai is said to have used money, women and gifts of villas and luxury cars to control Xiamen , one of the richest and most modern cities on the mainland, and smuggled in goods that lost the government 30 billion yuan in revenue and put thousands of people out of work.
The extradition push by Beijing stems back more than seven years, when Lai fled to Canada to escape prosecution on the mainland. Authorities last week assured Canada that Lai would not be executed if he was returned. But ties between the two nations have been further strained over human rights issues since Stephen Harper became Canadian prime minister last year.
Mr Harper has been critical of China's human rights record, most recently in the case of Husein Celil, 37, a Canadian citizen who was arrested in Uzbekhistan in February 2006 while visiting his wife's relatives, and deported to China. He is being held in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi and faces trial. Mr Harper is angry that his diplomats have been denied access to Celil, because Beijing does not acknowledge his Canadian citizenship.
But it is Lai who ranks at the top of a list of 4,000 people, including officials, who the government accuses of taking bribes and escaping abroad. 'To extradite him would be a symbol of the government's determination to bring back corrupt officials from abroad and terrorise others thinking of doing the same,' was how the China News Weekly summarised the importance of the case.
Although the government has prosecuted more than 300 of those involved with Lai and executed seven of them, the alleged kingpin is missing. The government wants Lai back, to try him and close the case.