Nihal meets China’s Prosecutor General of China and head of anti-corruption bureau
View(s):Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption activist Nihal Sri Ameresekere recently attended a high level meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities held in Beijing and may have raised the burning issue of unsolicited proposals from China.
According to news reports from there, he also met the Prosecutor General of China Prof. Cao Jianming and ‘had a frank and open discussion”.
Political analysts in Colombo said newspapers like the Sunday Times have raised many issues about unsolicited proposals from China which have been approved by the Government, an issue that figured in parliament too this week.
They said there is a need for Chinese anti-corruption authorities to examine the space of unsolicited large business ventures in Sri Lanka against which the opposition has cried foul for lack of procedure and transparency, and believed Mr. Ameresekere would have raised this matter with Prof Cao. The former was not immediately available for comment as he is still in China.
About 30 eminent delegates from several countries, including China, India, Russia, Brazil, France, Norway, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, European and African States had participated in the Beijing event. It also included the Chair, UN Anti-Corruption Academy and representatives of International Prosecution Association.
The reports said that the main focus had been on the effective enforcement of the rule of law. Deliberations had focused on its relevance to private and public sectors, and the NGO community. Role of corruptors had been a new dimension, with stolen assets hidden in trust companies in co-operating foreign regimes and money laundering by financial institutions and in stock exchanges.
China has been fighting corruption and recently investigated GlaxoSmithKline and has prosecuted several Chinese companies.