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Naomi Ng

A court in the United States has yet to decide whether or not to grant political asylum to one of China’s wanted fugitives, who is being held on immigration charges, an overseas Chinese newspaper reports.
Yang Xiuzhu, 69, a former senior official who is wanted by China’s anti-graft watchdog on suspicion of corruption, wanted to stop the US repatriating her because she feared she would not get a fair trial back in China, her lawyer said.
She appeared in a closed hearing at an immigration court in New York on Monday, the US-based World Journal reported.
The hearing was adjourned until November 19.
Yang’s lawyer, Vlad Kuzmin, told reporters that her younger brother, Yang Shoudi, and her cousin had both been nervous while testifying in court and hesitant about answering questions, and blamed this on pressure they had faced from the Chinese government.
Kuzmin said many witnesses had refused to appear in court because they feared their testimonies could affect their relatives living on the mainland.
Read more: Fugitive Chinese official Yang Xiuzhu, suspected of corruption, detained by US immigration 

Yang tops the list of 100 wanted fugitives released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection as a part of the country’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
Although her portrait appears at the top of a list of Chinese economic fugitives released by Chinese law enforcement, it is unclear if this means she is the most-wanted suspect.
Yang, a senior official who oversaw construction projects in the booming eastern province of Zhejiang,  went into hiding on the mainland after she was sought by anti-corruption investigators before ending up in the US.

In May, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused Yang of “violating the terms of the visa waiver programme” and had asked the court to deport her.
However, Yang has since applied for political asylum and protection under the UN Convention Against Torture, to prevent her being sent back to China, where her lawyer said they feared she would not receive a fair trial.
“Her concern is whether her trial in China will be fair considering all the news reports that have been published by the state media", Kuzmin said in reports after her first court appearance in June. “Most of it has been negative. She has already been convicted in the eyes of the media of corruption.” 
People applying for political asylum must show they have experienced persecution or have a well-founded fear of future persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a certain group.
“America is a democratic country, I believe there will be a fair decision,” Kuzmin was quoted as saying by World Journal after Monday’s hearing.
Yang is also subject to Interpol’s red notices, which appeal for the location and arrest of each wanted person and ask member states to extradite them.
She has been held in a correctional facility in New Jersey for more than a year and was not granted bail based on fears that she would flee the country.
She escaped to the US in 2003 after she was accused of accepting 253 million yuan in bribes.
One of her brothers, Yang Jinjun, fled to the US in 2001, was also on China’s list of wanted fugitives.
He was suspected of bribery and corruption and repatriated by the US in September.


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