Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Lai Changxing (Chinese: 赖昌星) (born 1958) is a Chinese businessman and entrepreneur from Jinjiang, Fujian in the People's Republic of China. This article is about the People's Republic of China province Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Lai was the head of the lucrative Yuanhua Group in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen, which became implicated in a large smuggling and corruption scandal in the late 1990s. A Special Economic Zone ( SEZ) is a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws He has been described by several media organizations as "China's most wanted fugitive", while others maintain that he is the victim of a government witch hunt and that he is a "defender of the free market". A free market is a Market in which property rights are voluntarily exchanged at a price arranged completely by the mutual consent of sellers and buyers

Contents

Yuanhua Group

Lai resided in Fujian province before he moved to Hong Kong in 1991. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders In 1994 Lai founded Yuanhua Group, a prominent group of upstart companies that took advantage of the economic boom of Xiamen's status as a Special Economic Zone. A Special Economic Zone ( SEZ) is a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws The group was heavily involved in the city's real estate, clubs, and owned the 88-story Yuanhua Tower and the Yuanhua International Centre. Lai had prominent connections with the Zhejiang power elite; he was also a member of the Provincial Consultative Conference.

Lai was believed to be the mastermind of a US$10 billion scheme, during which he allegedly bribed high level officials in the administration of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone in order to smuggle luxury cars and entire tanker-loads of oil into the country. Chinese authorities do not comment on allegations that Lai's Yuanhua group was also a conduit for clandestine military shipments, such as Silkworm missiles.

Canada

He fled to Canada in 1999 with his wife Zeng Mingna (曾明娜) and their children, using a HKSAR passport [1][2],[3],[4] Following heavy pressure from Beijing, Lai's Hong Kong permanent residency and HKSAR passport were revoked in 2002 by the Hong Kong Government, saying that he obtained the status dishonestly. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The " Hong Kong Special Administrative Region People's Republic of China Passport " ( The Hong Kong Identity Card (abbreviation HKID, ID card) is an official Identity document issued by the Immigration Department of Hong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( see pronunciation; conventional short [5]

The Chinese government has refused to drop the charges laid on him, and seeks his extradition. In the same corruption case, one of the largest in modern Chinese history, many high-level municipal and provincial officials were sacked and a few were sentenced to life in prison or death. The complex smuggling case has shifted the entire political scene in Fujian in the late 1990s. Others like Pierre Lemieux defended Lai, saying he is only a criminal because of the communist economic system in China. Pierre Lemieux (born in April 9, 1963 in Embrun Ontario) is a Politician in Ontario, Canada. They say with a free market, there would be no need for smugglers like Lai.

Lai's attorney Winnipeg lawyer David Matas says it is doubtful Lai could ever get a fair trial in China, given the extent of communist party influence in the opaque judicial system. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population David Matas (born 1943 is the senior legal counsel of B'nai Brith Canada. Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, architect of the crackdown on Xiamen-centred smuggling and having a very tough stance on corruption, has publicly stated that Lai deserves not just one but several deaths. Zhū Róngjī (born 1 October 1928) is a prominent Chinese politician who served as the Mayor and Party chief in Shanghai between 1987 and 1991 before serving as Vice-Premier Matas has now filed for an assessment of whether Lai's family is at risk if they are return to China. As long as immigration officials are considering this request, he says, they may not be removed from Canada.

Nonetheless Lai has repeatedly been denied political refugee status in Canada, most recently in 2005 September by the Supreme Court in Ottawa. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. This seconded the Federal court of Appeal, which in April had refused to hear Lai's appeal of the 2002 June Refugee Board decision, i. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. e. that Lai and Zeng didn't meet the standards to be designated as refugees.

While 14 others involved in the complex racket in China have been executed, China promised Canada, which has no capital punishment, that he would not be executed if extradited from Canada. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. The promise is suspect, given that Lai's brother died in a Fujian labour-camp after receiving a lesser sentence, a passing noted by Svend Robinson, then New Democratic Party member of parliament for Burnaby-Douglas. Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician Canada's first openly Homosexual elected official and a prominent activist Principles policies and electoral achievement The NDP grew from populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament.

Further reading

The only book published on the Lai Changxing affair is by the former Beijing bureau chief of The Times newspaper, Oliver August. Oliver August (born July 17, 1971) is a journalist and author

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic