Extradition message

Whether Lai Changxing, dubbed the most wanted man for his involvement in China's most notorious smuggling case in the 1990s, would be successfully extradited from Canada and brought to justice is, in many ways, of particular significance to the campaign against corruption.

The willingness Lai expressed early this week in an interview to be repatriated is the light at the end of the tunnel for the 10-year-long effort to get him back for trial since he fled in 1999. He admitted, during the interview, to the crime of evading a large sum of taxes and stated that he wanted very much to return to his motherland. He said that he had been facing a lot of pressure both economically and psychologically in the past decade.

That his ex-wife, who divorced him four years ago, has already returned, has added to the possibility of Lai's successful extradition. His youngest daughter came back with his ex-wife.