BEIJING - China denied on Tuesday allegations that it would sentence to death or torture a fugitive fighting in Canadian courts against being deported to China to face charges he ran a billion-dollar smuggling ring.
The case of Lai Changxing is one of several which have strained relations between China and Canada, especially as the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper steps up its criticism of Beijing's human rights record.
China accuses Lai of masterminding a southern China-based network that smuggled as much as US$10 billion in goods, including cigarettes, vehicles and chemicals, with the protection of corrupt government officials.
Lai, his wife Tsang Mingna and their three children fled to Canada and applied for asylum in 1999. They say the refugee board that initially turned down their asylum claim overlooked the nature of political persecution in China.
"China is a big and responsible country which honours its words,'' Gan Yisheng, vice secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, said at a news conference.
"We promise that he will not be sentenced to death,'' Gan said, adding that China has joined international agreements against using torture.
"The door of the motherland is open'' to Lai to return and "confess his crimes,'' he said in response to a question.
Last year, Canada's Federal Court stayed a deportation order against Lai, allowing him to launch further appeals against the order. The court's ruling said there appeared to be no guarantees Lai would not face danger or torture if deported.
Canadian authorities are technically bound by laws that protect asylum seekers from being deported to countries where judicial systems apply torture.
Lai's bid for refugee status had already been denied all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada.
In 2001, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien a diplomatic note with assurances Lai would not be executed if returned to China.
The Canadian and Chinese governments have also been at odds over Huseyin Celil, jailed for alleged terrorist links in western China's Xinjiang region.
Ottawa says he has dual citizenship and that a Canadian diplomat should be allowed to visit him, while China does not recognize his Canadian citizenship.
Canada has been aggressively lobbying for his release -- a move that has angered Chinese officials, as did Canada's granting of honorary citizenship to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.
