Tom Mitchell in Singapore, Leslie Hook in San Francisco, Geoff Dyer in Washington and Jamil Anderlini in Hong Kong
The Chinese government has threatened to halt judicial co-operation with the US if a federal prosecutor does not agree to return one of Beijing’s most wanted men, according to Chinese and US officials familiar with the extradition negotiations.
China’s public security ministry began pushing last year for the return of Ling Wancheng, a businessman now residing in the US. Mr Ling’s brother, Jihua, was chief of staff for former Chinese president Hu Jintao and is one of the highest-ranking officials
in the ruling Communist party’s anti-corruption campaign.
Over recent months, Chinese police have informed their US counterparts that they would withhold future co-operation if Washington did not agree in principle to Mr Ling’s return this month, according to officials familiar with the extradition negotiations.
Liao Jinrong, head of the public security ministry’s international department, travelled to Washington earlier this month to discuss Mr Ling’s case.
Mr Ling is regarded as a
given his brother’s senior position in the Hu administration, potentially making it more difficult for the US to hand him back to China.
The US investigation into Beijing’s allegations against Mr Ling is being led by Nirav Desai at the federal prosecutor’s office in Sacramento, California, where Mr Ling has previously resided. Mr Desai’s team travelled to the Chinese capital in January.
Chinese police have told US federal prosecutors that they suspect Mr Ling of involvement in at least three corruption cases as well as laundering as much as $1bn, according to people familiar with the discussions.
US officials, however, have not been able to find evidence that Mr Ling has handled or amassed such a large fortune. They also doubt that there are sufficient grounds for extradition in two of the cases cited by the Ministry of Public Security, but are continuing their investigation into the third allegation concerning a US-listed company.
“There have been a lot of false leaks regarding my client, Ling Wancheng — first that he was leaking [Chinese] state secrets, and now of corruption,” said Greg Smith, a Washington-based lawyer who worked in the White House Counsel’s Office during the Clinton administration.
“It also appears that there has been an organised campaign to manipulate the press in an effort to convince people that my client is a bad person,” Mr Smith added. “But I am confident the US government will act responsibly and appropriately in this situation, and respect my client’s rights if they investigate any allegations related to my client, however wild those may be.”
“We are not commenting and cannot confirm or deny any investigation,” said Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of California.
China’s public security ministry declined to comment.
Chinese police began to ramp up pressure on their US counterparts ahead of and during the January visit to Beijing by Mr Desai’s team. During that trip, US federal prosecutors were allowed to interview more than a dozen Chinese witnesses in the three corruption probes that Mr Ling is allegedly connected to.
These include a Chinese investigation into Mr Ling’s investment in LeTV, an entertainment website; the case of Zhang Yujun, a former assistant chairman of China’s securities regulator who has been
; and a Chinese probe in relation to a US-listed company. LeTV has denied being the subject of a corruption investigation or having any links with Mr Ling.
While China and the US do not have an extradition treaty that obliges the return of suspects wanted by the other, both nations can do so on a case-by-case basis. US decisions to return a suspect, however, can be delayed for years by judicial appeals.
There are an estimated 40,000 Chinese illegal immigrants in the US who the Obama administration would like to send back to China. These include about 1,500 people on an “active” list for deportation.
Before they can be returned, US immigration officials often need Chinese co-operation for everything from the issuance of new passports and other documents to clearance for charter flights.
Speaking privately, US officials say such co-operation from their Chinese counterparts has traditionally been limited. They add that Beijing has also dragged its feet on the extradition of US fugitives now living in China.
But the Chinese government’s high-profile Operation Fox Hunt and Skynet campaigns to hunt down corruption suspects who have fled abroad has given the Obama administration rare leverage. When the
Fox Hunt and Skynet suspects, it demands that Beijing accept the deportation of a number of illegal immigrants in return.
Any decision by the US government to return Mr Ling would provide it even greater bargaining power, although he would still be able appeal to the courts for a stay of extradition. “If [the Sacramento prosecutor] decides to give him back, Washington is going to ask for the world in return,” said one person familiar with the negotiations.
