‘Sky Net’ anti-graft drive retrieves 19 fugitives since 2015

China's top disciplinary watchdog said Wednesday 18 of 100 people on its list of most-wanted fugitives who fled overseas were deported to China in 2015, over half of whom used to be among the chief leaders of their organizations. The "Sky Net" anti-graft operation, launched in April 2015, named 100 economic crime suspects who were evading arrest by hiding abroad. Together with Pei Jianqiang, the 10th highest suspect on the list, who was returned on January 1, the number of most-wanted suspects in Chinese custody stands at 19, according to a Wednesday statement of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on its official website. Among those arrested last year, 11 headed State-owned companies and governmental agencies. A total of 863 people wanted for corruption had been arrested as of November, 738 of whom were arrested abroad, with 196 of them Party members and officials, the CCDI said. Forty-five percent of the 738 suspects were returned to China and another 41 percent were persuaded to return, read the statement. The progress is encouraging, considering tracking them down was difficult, especially as China has yet to sign extradition treaties with several countries, Zhuang Deshui, a deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity-Building at Peking University, told the Global Times. About 40 of the 100 suspects fled to the US while 26 escaped to Canada, said the CCDI. Over half of the 18 arrested in 2015 have hidden abroad for over five years, with some up to 15 years, according to the CCDI. Many of the suspects were using fake identification and hopped from one country to another, which made tracking them down more difficult, said the CCDI. Some countries that have various interpretations of corruption or consider the arrest political prosecution have made China's search more challenging, Zhuang explained on Wednesday.