Australia withdrew its vote to ratify the extradition treaty with China on Tuesday. This is a setback for the Asian country with one of their agenda in pursuit of corrupt officials and corporate personnel who have escaped abroad with their assets referred to as “Operation Fox Hunt”. If this is approved, Australia will become one of other countries that agreed to an extradition treaty besides France and Spain. Ten years have passed after this was signed which was mainly because of Australia’s opposition with the humanitarian issue with China where there is accusation of an inappropriate method to obtain a confession. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying explained that this treaty would open as a middle ground for both countries to catch cross-border criminals as a common interest reminding that there is a bigger scope with the treaty considering the bilateral relations and important domestic processes.
