Sino-US cooperation can help anti-graft drive

President Xi Jinping, left, and his US counterpart Barack Obama walk at the Annenberg Retreat of the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California, on June 8, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping has said it is the responsibility of all countries to maintain the world order and international system with the UN Charter at its core, and promote new type of win-win international relations. And since China and the US both are permanent members of the UN Security Council, they are obliged to establish and develop bilateral legal cooperation to fight corruption based on the UN Charter.

China and the US have their own traditions and experiences of the rule of law. So the global fight against corruption should be based on international law, which respects the sovereignty of China and the US both. The two sides also have to help establish the global legal principles and measures that yield mutual benefit and promote Sino-US cooperation.

The UN began promoting international cooperation to combat corruption in the 1970s. The UN Convention against Corruption issued in 2003 established the principles, rules and regulations for global legal cooperation against corruption, which should also be the basis of Sino-US legal cooperation to fight corruption.

The UN Convention stipulates the obligations the member states must fulfill. All the contracting parties, including China and the US, should comply with these international obligations. In terms of global cooperation against corruption, Beijing and Washington should abide by the Convention and work out more specific measures that suit the actual situations of both sides through negotiation.

The Convention spells out many measures to effectively crack down on corruption. Article 51 of the Convention stipulates the measures for the return of assets, and Article 26 stipulates the liability of legal persons. To effectively implement these measures, there should be a systemic guarantee.

Article 65 explains the Implementation of the Convention: Each state party shall take necessary measures, including legislative and administrative measures, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic laws, to ensure the implementation of its obligations under this Convention.