Ex-government official facing corruption charges returns to country

A former Chinese government official facing corruption charges who had fled to the United States has given herself up and returned to China, the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog said on Saturday.

Huang Yurong, a former party head at the highway agency in Henan province, returned to China after 13 years in the United States, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website.

The government earlier this year unveiled an initiative called "Sky Net" to better coordinate its fight to return corrupt officials and published a list of 100 graft suspects, including Huang Yurong, believed to be abroad and subject to an Interpol "red notice" - the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant.

Huang said she believed she had made the right decision to return to China and she would actively participate in the judicial investigations, the CCDI said.

No reason for her return was given.

China changed its tactics in its global hunt for fugitives wanted at home for corruption, after complaints from countries that objected to Beijing's practice of sending investigators to track them down, a top Chinese anti-corruption official told Reuters in November.

Western nations have balked at signing extradition deals with China, partly out of concern about its judicial system. Rights groups say Chinese authorities use torture and that the death penalty is common in corruption cases.

China first succeeded in getting a person back from the United States who was on the list of 100 wanted corruption suspects in September this year when Yang Jinjun, the general manager of a company in Wenzhou city, returned to southeastern China.