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Commentary: Sincerity needed in U.S.-China anti-graft cooperation

Xinhua, August 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Obama administration should show sincerity in anti-corruption cooperation with China and stop parochial calculations.

On Sunday, the U.S. government made a regrettable move by ordering the Chinese law enforcement personnel in the country for the "Fox Hunt" operation to return home immediately.

Regrettable is such action as China's operation is legitimate and has been approved in bilateral agreements reached earlier this year.

"Fox Hunt 2015," which targets corrupt officials of government departments and state-owned enterprises, is an important effort of China to crack down corruption.

The global law enforcement operation can serve as a great deterrent to corrupt Chinese officials, as it makes it clear that those officials have no place to hide.

Corruption is not only a serious problem in China, but also in the rest of the world. And in a world which is more and more connected, countries should take coordinated efforts in fighting corruption.

Although there is no extradition agreement between the United States and China, the two countries actually have already agreed on anti-corruption cooperation.

In April 2015, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson met Chinese Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun in Beijing, and they agreed to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement.

They agreed not to provide shelter for the other side's fugitives and would try to repatriate them in accordance with law. Specifically, Johnson also promised to actively support China's "Sky Net" and "Fox Hunt" operations, which aim to bring back corrupt officials.

So the U.S. government's decision to force China's law enforcement stuff to leave the country obviously reveals that Washington lacks sincerity and has failed to translate its words into action.

Some analysts even say that the United States is reluctant to repatriate those corrupt officials for the sake of their money of course.

Therefore, the United States, as a country that often stresses the rule of law, should clarify the issue and by no means become a safe haven for Chinese criminal suspects.

Washington should display necessary sincerity in future law enforcement cooperation with China in order to dispel such suspicion. Endi