2016年CRI China-Canada agreement on returning and sharing crime-related assets ＂milestone＂: diplomat

 

The agreement signed last week during Chinese Premier¹ Li Keqiang's visit to Canada is focused on the "returning" and "sharing" money generated through criminal activity.

Under the deal, if the courts in either country determine the legal ownership of the money transferred overseas, the assets, once recovered, have to be immediately returned to its legitimate² owners.

However, if the courts can't make a determination of who owns the money, the two sides will then enter into negotiations³ to determine how much either side will be entitled to.

Xu Hong, head of the department of treaties and laws with the Chinese Foreign Ministry⁴, says the new agreement should help both sides recover funds which go beyond the theft of the original money.

"The sharing system serves as an additional method for the recovery of the assets transferred overseas. Through the sharing system, any money generated through the proceeds of crimes can also be partly recovered. Beyond this, the new agreement should also help encourage more equal legal and law enforcement cooperation between different countries."

The deal signed between China and Canada last week is the first specific agreement China has signed with other countries on recovering income generated through funds stolen from China that are transferred overseas.

China now has 79 bilateral⁵ legal assistance agreements with 60 different countries, as well as extradition⁶ treaties with 46 countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang says they plan to continue negotiating to increase those numbers.

"China will further improve its legal and law enforcement cooperation with other countries. We also plan to sign more special agreements on recovering crime-related assets with foreign countries and reinforce its efforts with this respect and extradition of suspects at large after gathering⁷ more experience and when the condition permits."

The new deal with Canada is an extension of the "Fox Hunt" campaign the Chinese government launched in 2013 to repatriate⁸ Chinese officials who have fled overseas with state money.

This year's campaign has already seen over 400 suspects returned to China.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

6 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。