Beijing calls on Macau to join manhunt for fugitive corrupt officials
Gambling mecca is urged to help corner corrupt mainland officials on the run
A leading Beijing official has urged Macau's graft-buster to cooperate in the central government's crusade to hunt down fugitives from the mainland crackdown on corruption.
Despite returning to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, Macau has not devised a law to transfer fugitives to and from the mainland.
Huang Shuxian, minister of supervision and a deputy chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said on Monday he hoped to "pragmatically cooperate with Macau's Commission Against Corruption to strengthen the tracking down of fugitives and proceeds".
The remark was made during a meeting in Beijing with the Macau commission's director, Andre Cheong Weng-chon, days after the launch of Operation Skynet, the mainland's international manhunt for fugitive corrupt officials.
Mainland-Macau cooperation would strengthen the implementation of the United Nation's Convention Against Corruption, Huang was quoted as saying.
Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the mainland has stepped up its drive against corrupt party cadres, a move widely seen as the reason behind falling revenues in the gaming sector in Macau, the city's lifeblood.