CHINA WANTS EXTRADITION TREATY, JUSTICE VICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002086

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2029
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CH
SUBJECT: CHINA WANTS EXTRADITION TREATY, JUSTICE VICE
MINISTER TELLS FBI DIRECTOR

Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor
Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4 (b),(d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In a July 17 meeting with FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, PRC Vice Minister of Justice Hao
Chiyong expressed hope that the United States would
consider returning additional fugitives to China in
the same manner as Bank of China suspect Yu
Zhendong. VM Hao added that the PRC would like to
sign an extradition treaty with the United States,
as China had already done with thirty other
countries. The Director said he supported
extradition in individual cases, which could be
accomplished without a treaty. He noted that
differences remained between the U.S. and Chinese
legal systems and pointed to the Rio Tinto case as
an example of how China needed to improve
transparency in its judicial system to build
international confidence. End Summary.

Past Cooperation
--------------


2. (C) PRC Vice Minister of Justice Hao Chiyong, in
a July 17 meeting with FBI Director Robert S.
Mueller, praised U.S.-China law enforcement
cooperation, which he said had grown more extensive
since the signing of the Mutual Legal Assistance
Agreement for Criminal Matters (MLAA). Hao cited
the Bank of China "Kaiping" case as an example.
Director Mueller agreed that the Bank of China case
was an example of how the two sides could work
together successfully, and noted that one defendant,
Yu Zhendong, had already been returned to serve time
in China.

Extradition of Fugitives
--------------


3. (C) Director Mueller said that other Bank of
China defendants in the United States might be
returned to China after exhausting their appeals.
The case of Yu Zhendong showed that it was possible
to send offenders back to China. VM Hao noted that
the Bank of China Kaiping case was not yet complete
and each individual case should progress to
conclusion. He said that the PRC would like to see
more post-conviction transfers to China. VM Hao
assured Director Mueller, that "we are a rule-of-law
country and we treat criminals in accordance with
the law," for which Yu Zhendong's conviction and
sentence in China served as evidence. "The rest of
the Bank of China defendants should also be
transferred to complete our cooperation," he added.


4. (C) VM Hao said China believed that the MLAA was
not sufficient and that both the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Justice supported signing an
extradition treaty with the United States. Such a
treaty would facilitate greater cooperation in
fighting terrorism and economic crimes. VM Hao
pointed out that the PRC had signed extradition
treaties with over 30 other countries, providing
ample mature sample treaty texts as well as many
successful cases to use as precedents. Director
Mueller agreed that an extradition treaty was an
important part of the bilateral legal framework but
noted the Departments of Justice and State would
have the lead on the issue. In the meantime, the
two sides should continue to exchange fugitives
without an extradition treaty when circumstances
allowed. Director Mueller recalled that the USG had
suggested returning ten of the 100 fugitives that
China had requested. Director Mueller agreed to
work with China's liaison officers in Washington, DC
to move forward on the first ten and explore the
possibility of extradition. VM Hao expressed his
appreciation for the Director's support in returning
Chinese fugitives and agreed that China and the
United States "could not wait for regulations to be
made to proceed against terrorists and criminals."
VM Hao added that neither side should wait for an
extradition treaty to return economic criminals
since these criminals entered the United States
unlawfully and remained engaged in illicit
activities, providing sufficient legal grounds for

BEIJING 00002086 002 OF 002


their removal.

Counter-Terrorism Cooperation and Transparency
-------------- -


5. (C) Director Mueller added that he looked forward
to addressing global issues and fighting global
terror together with China. He said that since
terrorism posed a threat to both the United States
and China, it was important that we share
information among our law enforcement, intelligence,
and military communities. He added that it was
important to exchange phone numbers and e-mail
addresses so law enforcement officers could respond
quickly to information before terrorism occurred.
VM Hao replied that since terrorists changed methods
and targets, world-wide efforts were needed to fight
them.


6. (C) Director Mueller noted that fighting
terrorism was difficult to grapple with because it
required the interaction of judicial and
intelligence sectors in ways that were new to the
United States. He noted that the new administration
was working hard to resolve these issues. Director
Mueller said that the two sides could exchange
information and lessons learned on how to process
cases through the criminal justice system. The
United States suffered in world opinion because of
how we handled this issue in the past so the United
States must proceed in a transparent, cautious way.
He urged China to show similar transparency and
allow outsiders to see how its judicial system
worked.

Rio Tinto
--------------


7. (C) Director Mueller said that the day before he
had met with Prime Minister Rudd in Australia and
Rudd had expressed concern about the lack of
transparency surrounding the Rio Tinto case.
Director Mueller said that although this was not a
U.S. matter, the world was watching how this case
would be handled. The Bank of China case
exemplified the transparency of the U.S. judicial
system and lent credibility to the verdict in the
eyes of the public in both countries. VM Hao
responded that business secrets were important
national secrets and asserted that the court would
try this case under Chinese law and the rights of
both sides would be respected. Hao said that the
proceedings and verdict would be publicized.
Director Mueller replied that transparency was
important in the Rio Tinto case because the
credibility of the Chinese criminal justice system
was at sake.
GOLDBERG