US backs China's campaign to hunt down 'economic fugitives'
Top-level security talks in Beijing yield agreement from the United States to simplify system to send wanted Chinese nationals home
The United States said it would streamline its process to repatriate Chinese fugitives after a meeting in Beijing last week between the domestic security chiefs of both countries.
Xinhua said the talks between Meng Jianzhu, who oversees domestic security as secretary of the Central Politics and Law Commission, and national police chief Guo Shengkun, and US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson also touched on counterterrorism, intellectual property rights, maritime law enforcement and cybersecurity.
In a statement issued on the weekend, the US Department of Homeland Security said both sides agreed to increase information sharing on "foreign terrorist fighters through international databases". "Secretary Johnson and Minister Guo agreed to a more streamlined process to repatriate Chinese nationals with final orders of removal, while applications for protection will continue to be handled in accordance with US law and American values," the statement said.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and China's Ministry of Public Security would work closely to verify the identities of Chinese nationals requiring travel documents and would ensure that regular charter flights were scheduled to facilitate repatriation, the statement said.
Guo said the two sides should seek cooperation in law enforcement, and that both sides agreed they would not provide refuge to fugitives, Xinhua reported.
Chinese public security authorities said the US supported Chinese programmes dubbed "Sky Net" and "Operation Fox Hunt", which are meant to coordinate a campaign to track down suspected corrupt officials who have fled overseas and to recover their assets. The Chinese government had given the US a priority list of Chinese officials suspected of corruption and who were believed to have fled there, state media reported.
Chinese officials have said more than 150 "economic fugitives" including corrupt government officials are in the US.
China's anti-corruption watchdog said last month that more than 500 suspects were repatriated to China last year, along with more than 3 billion yuan (HK$3.8 billion). President Xi Jinping has said he aims to track down corrupt officials across sectors in a far-reaching campaign against graft.
Johnson also met Minister of the Cyberspace Administration Lu Wei, and customs' chief Yu Guangzhou in Beijing. Johnson characterised the meetings as "frank exchanges of views on matters about which we disagree, and agreement to move forward on matters about which we do agree", according to the home security department's statement.
Guo also proposed to establish cybersecurity discussions with the US Department of Homeland Security.
