A long-time fugitive of the Chinese government who was arrested in Thailand last year for allegedly running illegal cross-border gambling operations in Southeast Asia’s “golden triangle” is fighting his extradition to China on citizenship grounds.
In information sent to IAG by representatives, She Zhijiang says he should not be extradited back to China because he is no longer a Chinese citizen and no longer holds a Chinese passport, having obtained Cambodian citizenship some years ago. He also questions the extradition process on the basis that Chinese domestic law does not permit suing a foreign national for alleged crimes committed outside of China.
As previously reported by IAG, She is chairman of Yatai International Holding Group, which is involved in casino development along the Burmese border and has been developing a US$15 billion tourism complex in Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone, said to be home to both land-based and online casino operations. Media reports state that She has built a number of online gambling platforms since 2018, primarily targeting Chinese gamblers.
Reports from media in China and Taiwan have also linked the Myanmar complex with human trafficking.
She had been listed as a fugitive by the Chinese government after settling in Cambodia in the wake of being convicted of running an illegal lottery business in the Philippines by a court in Shandong Province in 2014.
In comments sent to IAG, She – who refers to his Myanmar tourism complex as the Yatai Zone – claims he had been in talks with the Chinese government around leveraging “the advantages of the Yatai Zone to cooperate with China’s Southeast Asian political strategy” but was placed on an Interpol Red Notice at China’s request after he rejected their advances.
According to She, “The China government moved to seize the Yatai Zone using Chinese domestic law, which enables the right of recourse against Chinese citizens. When I cooperated with the China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs, the Chinese government didn’t arrest me. During my trip to China from 2017 to 2019, the Chinese authorities also did not arrest me.
“The Chinese government had me arrested when I changed my nationality to Cambodian. I had already completed the procedure of cancelling my Chinese nationality, but the government is still using domestic law to prosecute me.”
Representatives said She’s legal team were currently preparing their case for the appeals process in Thailand in what they claim is a landmark test of international extradition law.
