Lai Will Face Torture if Sent Back to China, Says Lawyer

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird denies any connection between the timing of his China trip and the sudden arrest and decision to deport “China’s most wanted fugitive” Lai Changxing.

The matter is before the courts, Baird says, and the ministry is not allowed to get involved in the decision.

The timing is reminiscent of Chinese Leader Hu Jintao’s 2005 trip to Canada, when a mere few days before his arrival Lai was denied an appeals hearing by the Supreme Court to reverse a decision denying him refugee status.

Speaking to reporters in a teleconference from Beijing on Monday, Baird said Chinese authorities have assured him that white collar crime is no longer subject to capital punishment, and that he has “no reason to doubt that commitment.”

The next day China executed two former mayors, Xu Maiyong and Jiang Renjie, on bribery charges.

Lai, who fled to Canada in 1999, is accused of masterminding a multi-billion dollar smuggling ring in China. He was arrested and slated to be deported earlier this month after officials, following four years of deliberations, determined there are adequate assurances that he will not be executed in China.

Lai’s lawyer, David Matas, later won him a temporary stay from a Federal Court judge so he can argue against his client’s deportation order in another hearing on July 21.

China does not allow defence council to operate contrary to the Party policy, so he would not get a fair trial.

—David Matas

Matas says Lai will not get a fair trial in China and faces a serious risk of being tortured.

“China doesn’t respect human rights. Other people in the case have been tortured, executed, and killed in prison or died in prison from unknown causes,” Matas says.

“China does not allow defence council to operate contrary to the Party policy, so he would not get a fair trial.”

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has reportedly said that Lai should be executed three times over. Chinese leader Hu Jintao later told Canada however that Lai will not be executed if deported to China.

An article by the Chinese-language news organization World Journal last month quoted Zhang Junsai, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada, as saying the two governments are in “detailed negotiations” over Lai’s case. He said Lai will “for sure” be sent back to China, and the case is currently undergoing the legal procedures, the article said.

A spokesperson with Citizenship and Immigration Canada declined to comment on the ambassador’s remarks and whether the Canadian government had given assurances that Lai will be deported, citing privacy laws of an “individual case.”

Power struggle

During his heyday in China, Lai had very close ties to subordinates of then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who may also be implicated in Lai’s operations in China.

Rumours have been swirling in China that Jiang is either near death or has already died, though information has been heavily censored and some pronouncements about his death in pro-Beijing media have been pulled or retracted.

Jiang led a faction of Chinese leaders, and their prospects for important positions in the regime may depend on how Jiang’s legacy is portrayed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Sheng Xue, a Chinese-Canadian journalist and human rights activist, says Lai could be useful for Hu Jintao in his power struggle with the Jiang faction within the Party.

“Hu is not happy about Jiang’s influence. Now, since Jiang’s health is threatened … Hu Jintao may want to use this opportunity to continue his pursuit for victory (over Jiang’s faction),” says Sheng, who has interviewed Lai and written a popular book about his case titled “Unveiling the Yuan Hua Case.”

Chinese political commentator Lin Baohua told NTD Television that Lai can be used effectively to get a leverage over Jiang.

“Lai made his fortune in Fujian, when the Fujian provincial party secretary was Jia Qinglin. Jia was part of Jiang’s clique. Jia’s wife was the party secretary for Fujian Foreign Trade Group. Lai, a smuggler, was a good friend of hers,” he says.

Additional reporting by Teng Dongyu