Commentary: "Sky Net" leaves corrupt Chinese officials nowhere to hide

China's implement of "Sky Net" campaign to round up corrupt officials who have fled the country is another piece of evidence showing China's unequivocal resolution to crash down corruption and graft, and destroys the fantasies of those officials that they can avoid punishment by hiding in other countries.

To begin with, the "Sky Net" shows that China's determination to eradicate corruption is stronger than ever.

Compared to last year's "Fox Hunt 2014" campaign, the "Sky Net" is a more coordinated move, which, besides the Ministry of Public Security, will also be participated by the Organizational Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the People's Bank of China, or the central bank.

The name of the campaign, "Sky Net", is inspired by a famous Chinese proverb: The net of the sky (sky means heaven or divinity in the context of Chinese traditional culture) has large meshes, but it allows nothing evil escape.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping had said in January, China is going to place "a net in the sky and on the ground, making sure corrupt officials cannot hide in safe havens."

Moreover, the implement of "Sky Net" is also encountered with a ever-stronger willingness of cooperation from other countries.

Many corrupt officials have chosen to flee to other countries, because they believed they can hide themselves behind the complex regularities on extraditions and jurisdictions.

The top three destination countries for Chinese corrupt officials, namely the United States, Canada and Australia, have not signed extradition treaties with China, making the task of pursuing and capturing fugitives more difficult to fulfill.

Most of the graft cases in the aforementioned countries can only be dealt with as money laundry, immigration fraud and so on.

However, the international community has begun to realize that corruption is a crime that needs closer and swifter worldwide cooperation.

Despite an absence of an extradition treaty between Beijing and Washington, there are positive signs that the United States will help. The U.S. State Department said last month that China had agreed to supply "more evidence regarding their priority fugitive cases, so that we can increase our focus on the location and prosecution or removal of these fugitives."

Other countries, such as Britain and France, are expressing also their willingness to cooperate with China in the pursuit of fugitive officials.

Combining the CPC's unprecedented determination and enhanced international anti-corruption cooperation, corrupt officials should cast off any hope that there still is a safe place for them, as the punishment of Chinese laws would fall no matter where they are. Endi