Interpol is cooperating with Skynet, which means many countries have an obligation to assist the Chinese authorities, but in reality, many Western countries are unwilling to do so.
"China has stressed international obligations. However, other nations are demanding China accept deported immigrants. It seems like a deal. If China doesn't do something about this, many nations won't care about Skynet," said Zha
Finding a way
For the last several decades, many U.S. experts and Western media outlets blamed the lack of extradition treaties on the Chinese legal system.
"There is a reason why the United States and most democratic nations do not have extradition treaties with China. That reason is China's criminal justice system ... has still failed to meet the minimum standards of international due process of law," wrote Jerome A. Cohen, a professor at New York University School of Law, on the website of Foreign Policy magazine.
"Cohen's opinion is extremely unreasonable and irresponsible. He aims to overthrow the whole Chinese legal system. The two nations' laws are obviously different. But there is common ground such as UN anti-graft conventions," Zha argued.
Apart from UN conventions, China has signed several Mutual Judicial Assistance agreements with the U.S. and several European nations.
These Mutual Judicial Assistance frameworks allow law enforcement agencies to verify business transactions - following money - and to transfer suspects - following criminals.
"Let's think from a local policeman's point of view: The priority of a policeman is not to make a foreign nation happy. His job is maintain order in his community. If your people are living illegally in my community, I cannot ignore them and legalize that person. Mutual Judicial Assistance agreements have established channels for the return of suspects," said Zha.
Unprecedented precedent
A trial in Singapore shows that deporting suspects to China without an extradition treaty is possible.
While Maher was facing being deported to a country he didn't know, a fugitive, second on China's most wanted list, Li Huabo, was relieved when he was deported by the Singaporean government back to China.
On May 9, he arrived at Beijing airport.
"Finally, I felt relieved," Li told the People's Daily, "Four years on the run, I always have been worried." In the last four years, the Chinese government has never stopped their efforts to chase, prosecute and arrest him.
For nearly 30 years, Li worked as a low-level financial official in Boyang county, in East China's Jiangxi Province. He was charged with embezzling more than 90 million yuan ($14.5 million) from the government. In March 2011, one month after arriving in Singapore, he was arrested by the Singaporean authorities. Although the two countries don't have an extradition treaty, Li's deportation was an important step in China's anti-graft campaign.
On November 8, at a Singapore preliminary court, Xu Zhifeng, Boyang's prosecutor was acting as prosecution witness. It was the first time a Chinese prosecutor testified as a witness in a foreign court.
Huang Feng, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said this is an exemplary case for future Skynet operations.
"When there are big obstacles, there is a need to depend on foreign prosecutors to help prosecute the suspects. The cooperation of foreign courts will help China to chase down suspects and it creates the legal conditions for the suspects' repatriation," Huang said.
Li's case is also the first case in which Chinese prosecutors utilized UN conventions to seize property a criminal has illegally acquired while in China.
Experts say the case is a major milestone. Once the Singaporean court agrees to return the property, it means even if the fugitives are not being repatriated, China can claim back the nation's property.
"Utilizing international laws and UN conventions can impose punishments and let the fugitive know that 'out of country is not out of law,'" Huang said.
Growing loopholes
With China's growing economy, and the relaxation of visa conditions for Chinese nationals by more and more nations, there could be more people seeing to use illegal immigration loopholes, including high-profile people such as Ling Wancheng.
On August 4, the New York Times reported that Chinese officials have asked the U.S. government to help to repatriate Ling Wancheng, the brother of Ling Jihua, one of the highest-level officials to have been targeted by the anti-corruption campaign.
Chinese experts say it is not just China's obligation to show hard evidence for the repatriation of suspects, it is equally important that the U.S. government make a clear and transparent public explanation of its decisions regarding Ling and other criminal suspects.
"Criminal evidence should be transparent so that it is clear there are open and fair procedures between the two nations." Zha said.
