Use UN rules to seize corrupt fugitives at large

The "Fox Hunt" to bring back corrupt officials who have fled abroad continues after its big success last year. But China can add more teeth to its overseas anti-corruption drive by applying the rules of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Corruption is a global problem. Hence, to fight it we need international cooperation. It is this principle that gave birth to the Convention in 2003. Chapters 4 and 5 of the Convention stipulate the principles of global legal cooperation, including extradition, mutual legal assistance, cooperation in law enforcement, joint investigation and asset recovery, which could boost China's cross-border anti-corruption campaign.

Article 43 of the Convention says: "In matters of international cooperation, whenever dual criminality is considered a requirement, it shall be deemed fulfilled irrespective of whether the laws of the requested state party place the offense within the same category of offense or denominate the offense by the same terminology as the requesting state party, if the conduct underlying the offense for which assistance is sought is a criminal offense under the laws of both states parties." Such a regulation can effectively solve the problem of double standards for the same crime in different legal systems, which could influence global judicial assistance.