China launches "Sky Net 2020" to capture fugitive graft suspects

BEIJING -- China on Mar 30 launched this year's global anti-corruption manhunt operation.

Codenamed "Sky Net 2020," the operation is aimed at capturing suspects of duty-related crimes who have fled abroad and preventing suspects from fleeing.

The operation will be carried out by several organs, with the National Supervisory Commission in charge of hunting down fugitives and recovering illicit assets, the Supreme People's Court pursuing illicit assets of hidden or dead suspects and defendants, and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) hunting for suspects of economic crimes.

The People's Bank of China and the MPS are responsible for preventing and cracking down on the transfer of illicit money to overseas accounts, and the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the MPS and other departments deal with the suspects' illegal acquisition of travel documents.

The first 11 months of 2019 saw 1,841 fugitives repatriated to China from abroad under the "Sky Net 2019" operation, with more than 4 billion yuan (560 million U.S. dollars) of illicit money recovered.