(Ecns.cn)—One of China's most wanted fugitives was ordered released from a Canadian jail Tuesday.
Lai Changxing, who has long been seen as one of China's most wanted fugitives, was released while a court reviews a deportation order that could see him returned home to face smuggling and bribery charges.
Lai was arrested at about 1 pm on July 7 at his Vancouver home. He is understood to be planning an appeal to stay in Canada during a one-day Federal Court hearing on July 21.
If he loses the appeal, Lai could be returned to China as soon as July 25.
Lai was the alleged mastermind of a multi-billion-dollar smuggling racket in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
From 1996 to 1999, through paying bribes and cultivating connections with local officials, Lai's gang managed to smuggle a range of goods valued at 53 billion yuan ($8.19 billion), from oil and cars to cigarettes, evading taxes of 30 billion yuan, an investigation revealed.
Authorities in Beijing have on several occasions demanded his extradition, but Canadian authorities rejected the request, claiming that Lai could face risks, such as torture, if sent back to China.
In 2007, Immigration Canada said their findings did not indicate Lai would face a risk in China, but the claim was overturned by Federal Court Judge Yves de Montigny, who ordered another risk assessment.
China has said repeatedly that the Lai case was the country's biggest scandal. Exhibitions and television shows have detailed his alleged crimes and excesses.
During a state visit to Canada by Chinese President Hu Jintao in June 2010, the two sides signed a memorandum to work together against crime.
China has also signed extradition treaties with 37 countries, including Spain, Australia, Portugal and France, and 250 fugitives have been extradited between China and these countries since 2006, the China Police Daily reported in last October.
