The EU first gave China a fugitive corrupt official: Bulgaria extradited accused in China of corruption official Yao Jinyi.
A key element of a large-scale campaign against corruption, President XI Jinping was the attempt to repatriate Chinese citizens, escaped from the country and suspected of corruption and economic crimes through high-profile operations, dubbed “Fox Hunt” and “Sky Net”, reports the South China Morning Post.
However, China has not been able to fully implement its plan due to difficulties with officials in the US, Canada, and Australia, where many of the most wanted suspects reside, largely due to what these governments consider to be insufficient transparency and due process in China’s judicial system.
In a brief statement of the state Committee for supervision of China. said that with the help of the Bulgarian government Yao Jinyi was extradited back to China.
“This is the first case where we successfully extradited official suspected of crimes related to the work of the member States of the EU”, – stated in the message.
Yao Jinyi was a County-level official in the Eastern province of China in Zhejiang and fled the country in December 2005 after being prosecuted for bribery.
Yao Jinyi, for whom a red Interpol notice was issued, was detained by the Bulgarian police on 17 October and the Sofia court later approved his extradition to China.
It was impossible to establish whether Yao Jinyi had been granted legal representation in China or to contact any of the family members for comment.
According to the Chinese government, many other corruption suspects have abandoned their names and returned to China, although human rights defenders have expressed concern that China has sometimes pressured its families to do so.
