The President of the Court of Appeal in Lisbon, Luís Vaz das Neves, has remanded the Chinese holder of a cherished Portuguese Golden Visa to 18 days in detention to enable the Chinese authorities time to submit the correct paperwork for his extradition.
Xiaodong Wang was arrested last Thursday after his name had appeared on an Interpol ‘wanted’ list. The fugitive quite naturally does not want to go back to China to start a jail sentence for tax evasion.
The judge explained that the Chinese citizen was heard in court last Friday, following the execution of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol, and added that the Chinese authorities have not yet submitted an extradition request, "during the allotted time, the Chinese authorities may formalise the extradition request. If they do not, the man will be released,” said Vaz das Neves.
It turns out that Xiaodong Wang was on the run from starting a ten year sentence for tax fraud in China. The Lisbon judge said that the man had been convicted last December and rather naturally is not showing too much interest in returning to his country.
If the Chinese authorities proceed with the extradition request, Wang’s options are varied and positive, including the justifiable claim that Chinese prisons are not at all pleasant, or that he did not have a fair trial. Both may be valid reasons and could be sufficient under EU laws for Wang to avoid extradition, but with Chinese commercial interests now so embedded in Portugal’s economy there may well be political pressure brought to bear to ensure he is sent back to China.
Vaz das Neves confirmed today that the Golden Visa was issued, along with a residence permit following Xiaodong Wang's purchase of a rather fine home in Cascais, before the Interpol notice was published.
Xiaodong Wang may prove to have been smarter than the system. If he was pretty sure he would be convicted in China, what better way to shield himself from China's unpleasant penal system than by the full use of Portugal's Golden Visa system which gives him residency within the EU and a comforting level of legal protection.
