Ex-wife of China's most-wanted fugitive returns

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-06 14:04

Lai Changxin (L) and Zeng Mingna[File photo: China News Service]

BEIJING: The ex-wife and daughter of China's most-wanted fugitive have returned to the country on their own after spending a decade hiding abroad, a senior Canadian official confirmed on Wednesday.

The return of the relatives of Lai Changxing, who masterminded a smuggling scheme involving 10 billion U.S. dollars and touched off a high-profile corruption scandal in Fujian Province in the 1990s, was the latest breakthrough in China's efforts to win Lai's extradition.

Lai, his wife and their three children fled to Canada from Hong Kong in 1999 to seek asylum and escape prosecution. The other two children are still in Canada.

Zeng Mingna, who divorced Lai in 2005 in Canada, is now in her hometown in southeast China's Fujian Province and is being treated well, Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, said in a TV interview, China news service reported on Wednesday.

Zeng's return, which Kenney said was a result of long negotiations with the Chinese government, coincided with the release of her brother, Zeng Mingtie, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2000 in Fujian, the Canadian official said in the interview.

Zeng Mingtie had been punished for his role in the massive smuggling scheme by Lai's Yuanhua Group in the Xiamen special economic zone.

Zeng Mingna was also wanted by the Chinese government after the family fled. It was unclear on Wednesday whether she would be prosecuted in Fujian.

Lai, a native of Fujian, is accused of running a criminal ring that, in collaboration with corrupt government officials, conducted the biggest smuggling operation uncovered in China since 1949.

The Chinese government has been seeking Lai's extradition since 1999 and has promised not to execute him. Negotiations are still under way with Canada, which will not deport foreigners to countries where they will face capital punishment.