加拿大外长 Lawrence Cannon今天在Council on Foreign Relations 讲加美关系，会后我问他关于中加引渡之事。他表示最终一定会将这些人引渡回中国，但两国的法律和司法的不同，使得加拿大必须考察后才能有双方的引渡条约。而且说加拿大是法治国家，法院的程序必须走完才有结果。
    虽然诸如赖昌星之类可能被引渡，但我听起来也可能会拖很久一样。
    不愧是外长，Cannon 在回答 Herbert Levin 的问题时说加拿大和美国确实在古巴问题上看法不一样，但又不愿多说，反而强调和美国看法不同的事情很少。
    当然他演说中也提到即使对中国的人权问题，每次有机会，就会和中方提起。

Less hope for Chinese fugitives in Canada

 

NEW YORK: A week after Canada repatriated a Chinese man wanted in connection with a major stock fraud case in China in the 1990s, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon voiced his hope to move extradition matters with China as fast as possible.

Zeng Hanlin, a businessman from South China's Guangdong province, is alleged to have been involved in a major contract fraud from October 1997 to August 1998. He fled to Canada later, the statement from China's Ministry of Public Security said.

“I have reassured my (Chinese) counterpart that we are doing everything possible to make sure that ultimately these people are repatriated back to China to be able to face justice,” Cannon told China Daily Wednesday afternoon after his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He was referring to many high-profiled Chinese fugitives now residing in Canada, in particular Lai Changxing, China’s most wanted.

The alleged leader of a smuggling operation that evaded billions of dollars in taxes and bribed government officials has been living in Canada since he fled China in 1999.

“From a perspective of Canada-China relations, it is as well important to move this matter as fast as possible,” Cannon said.

But he said since Canada is based on the rule of law, “it is incumbent to let the courts play out what they have to play out.”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whiling visiting China in December 2009 to mend up diplomatic relations, said the Canadian “courts have not accepted our desire to have Lai (Changxing) extradited. Both we and the government in China like to see Lai extradited.”

Cannon did not say when Canada is likely to sign an extradition treaty with China any time soon, but described that the procedure is to be able to look at the judicial systems in both countries. “We, before signing an extradition treaty, go out and look at the judicial system and legal system that is in place if it is compatible,” he said.

“We make an assessment if it is compatible and we decide either to go forward or not to go forward,” said Cannon, who became Canadian foreign affairs minister in October 2008.

Cannon admitted that Canada does not have a large number of extradition treaties in place. “Obviously with the United States we have agreements in place, but it’s not with every other country. So it’s a task that has not been dealt by our people and justice system.”

Canadian news reports show that the North American country has signed extradition treaties with only more than 50 countries in the world.

China does not seem the only country that has complained about the difficulty of extraditing fugitives from Canada. Countries such as the US, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand have all voiced their grievances on the issue over the past years.

China has stepped its pace in concluding extradition treaties with other nations over the past years. The 32 extradition treaties China has inked include four with developed countries of Spain, Australia, Portugal and France. In the treaties with four Western countries, China has promised not to seek capital punishment for extradited criminals based upon the requests of these countries. Death penalty is legal in China.

On a case-by-case basis, several corrupt officials on the run in Canada have also been repatriated back to China in the past years.

In January last year, Cui Zili, a Chinese fugitive wanted for his connection with a 20-million-yuan fraud case, was repatriated from Canada where he had lived for seven years. In August 2008, Deng Xinzhi, a key figure in the case, was also turned over to Chinese authorities.

The UN Anti-Corruption Convention, ratified by both China and Canada, requires signatories to cooperate closely on such issues. Before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Canada last June, China and Canada also signed a memorandum to team up against crime.

According to Chinese Ministry of Public Security officials, at least 580 fugitives accused of illegal fundraising, bank fraud, illegal transfer of fund abroad and contract fraud are on the run in other countries, most in North America and Southeast Asia, with Canada being often cited as a haven of corrupt Chinese officials and fugitives.