Commentary: China's global anti-corruption manhunt won't stop halfway

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- News broke Tuesday that the 50th of China's 100 most-wanted fugitives suspected of corruption had been captured. The remaining 50 should know that they can't hide forever.

In April 2015, Interpol's National Central Bureau of China released a list of 100 "red notice" corruption suspects who had fled overseas.

Many of them were former officials or executives of state-owned enterprises.

After that, half of those on the list returned from 19 countries and regions, including 12 from the United States and 11 from Canada.

It is noteworthy that 34 of them returned voluntarily and turned themselves in after being persuaded by Chinese authorities.

At its landmark 19th National Congress, the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledged to bring back all fugitives and bring them to justice.

Of the 50 returned, six had been on the run for more than 15 years. No one should doubt China's determination or ability in tracking these fugitives down.

As of June, China had signed extradition treaties with 48 countries and put in place judicial assistance arrangements on criminal offenses with nearly 60 countries and regions.

In addition, China has sought cooperation under multilateral frameworks such as the G20, APEC and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

During the APEC meeting in Beijing in 2014, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption was adopted, with an aim to eliminate corruption through extradition and judicial assistance and more flexible legal measures to recover stolen money.

Last year, G20 leaders also endorsed the High Level Principles on Cooperation on Persons Sought for Corruption and Asset Recovery and the 2017-2018 G20 Anti-corruption Action Plan in Hangzhou.

With the net tightened, the cooperation between China and other countries is a strong deterrent to those who harbor dreams of fleeing.

Capturing the fugitives is just part of China's efforts to secure a victory in the fight against corruption.

China is pushing forward national anti-corruption legislation and creating a corruption reporting platform that covers both disciplinary inspection commissions and supervision agencies.

Reform of the national supervision system is also expanding nationwide, with supervisory commissions established at the national, provincial, prefectural, and county levels.

The new system will ensure that supervision covers everyone working in the public sector who exercises public power.

With these arrangements, the world will continue to see that China has zero tolerance for corruption -- bad news for fleeing suspects or would-be offenders. Enditem