Don’t let Hong Kong become haven for corrupt, mainland graft-buster urges

Hong Kong and the mainland should team up in the fight against fugitive officials and stop the city becoming a refuge for fleeing cadres, according to a senior mainland anti-corruption official.

Hong Kong-based pro-establishment magazine Bauhinia quoted Liu Jianchao, head of the Central Commission for Discipline ­Inspection’s international cooperation department, as saying Beijing was determined to crack down on corruption.

Liu vowed to stop Hong Kong from becoming a “haven for the corrupt and their illegal income”, but said repatriation operations faced big challenges.

“Some of the mainland’s corrupt officials exploit the differences in the ... systems between the mainland and Hong Kong to flee. They try to hide in Hong Kong or use Hong Kong as a springboard to a third country,” he said.

The former diplomat said the authorities on the mainland and in Hong Kong should step up ­cooperation on sharing evidence, countering money laundering, tracing illicit assets, and joint law enforcement actions.