Canada to deport Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing

A Canadian court has cleared the way for one of China's most-wanted fugitives to be deported back to his home country after a long legal battle.

Lawyers for Lai Changxing, who is accused in China over a multi-billion dollar smuggling operation, say he

fears execution if he is sent back.

Mr Lai fled to Canada with his family in 1999, but he was denied asylum and has fought to stay ever since.

China says he will have a fair trial and will not receive the death penalty.

Canada, which does not practice capital punishment, forbids the extradition of prisoners to countries where they may be executed.

Correspondents say the case has soured diplomatic relations between the two countries.

'Clear stance'

"The life of the applicant is in the Chinese Government's hands," the court ruled, citing a Chinese proverb.

Mr Lai's lawyers have not yet said if they plan to appeal against the decision.

Canadian officials say Mr Lai could be deported as early as Saturday.

China accuses Mr Lai of running a huge smuggling operation in Fujian province in the 1990s. They say he dealt in goods including cigarettes, cars, heating and cooking oil, textiles, chemicals and other goods.

China's foreign ministry released a statement welcoming the court's decision.

"Lai Changxing has been wanted by the Chinese judiciary as a prime suspect in a Xiamen smuggling case and fled after the incident to Canada for many years," said Foreign Ministry Ma Zhaoxu in a statement.

"The Chinese government's stance on Lai Changxing returning to China to stand trial is clear. We welcome the Canadian court's decision."

Lawyers for Mr Lai say at least seven of his associates have died or disappeared in China's justice system.

They argue that Mr Lai would face torture and execution in China as a scapegoat for high-level officials who were involved in corrupt practices - an allegation China denies.

Prince William, Kate greeted by protesters(Photos)

MONTREAL—Prince William's new bride Kate countered protesters with smiles Saturday, as the royal couple came face to face with loud opposition in the French-speaking province of Quebec in a brief reversal of what has otherwise been a hugely successful trip.

About 35 protesters, including members of the separatist group Reseau de Resistance du Quebecois, or Quebecker Resistance Network, stood outside Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre in Montreal chanting "A united people will never be vanquished."
The newlyweds were there to visit with cancer patients and the hospital's neonatal care facility. The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre is the largest mother-child center in Canada.
Protesters carried signs that read "Parasites go home," ''War Criminals," and "Your fortune came from the blood of our ancestors."
"It's a symbol of English dominance over Quebec," said 30-year-old lawyer Antoine Pich of the couple's visit.
Dressed in black capes, the protesters were drumming and booing as the royal couple's motorcade pulled up to the hospital. William was whisked into the hospital as Kate stepped out of the car and smiled at the crowd before going in.

The demonstrations were a rare moment of criticism aimed at the young royals, who have for the most part been welcomed with open arms by Canadians eager to see the glamorous newlyweds.
The protesters were outnumbered about 10 to one by William and Kate supporters gathered outside the hospital. "Give me one good reason why you should hate someone. They're good people," said Elyane Lafontaine, 51.
Saturday was the couple's quietest and least frenetic day since beginning their tour on Thursday. The trip unfolded with two days of rousing crowds and seas of well-wishers clamoring to catch a glimpse of royalty during the couple's stay in Ottawa, the country's English-speaking capital city.
Protesters were angry that Canada still has ties to the monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II is still the country's figurative head of state and new Canadian citizens still pledge allegiance to the Queen during their swearing-in ceremony. Others said they were angry that taxpayer money is being used to pay for the royal tour.
Michael Behiels, an Ottawa University professor, said there was much hostility between the French and the English in the years following Great Britain's 1759 Conquest of New France—which is present day Quebec.
Maxime Laporte, head of the Reseau de Resistance du Quebecois, said the monarchy doesn't represent Quebec and is illegitimate here because the province has never accepted Canada's constitution. He called the royal tour a "nation-building exercise" funded by taxpayers.
The royal couple left the hospital and headed to the de Tourisme et D'Hotellerie du Quebec, where they were met again by a handful of protesters dominated by about 150 supporters. Many of the detractors loudly protested with megaphones and booing as the motorcade arrived.
One man perched above on a balcony earned cheers from the crowd as he chanted, before the couple arrived, "Vive le Quebec libre!"
The royal couple left the hospital and headed to the Institut de Tourisme et D'Hotellerie du Quebec, where they were met again by a handful of protesters dominated by about 150 supporters. Some spectators held signs that said, "Bienvenue Will et Kate sur Le Plateau," which welcomes them to the trendy Montreal neighborhood where the institute is located.

Once inside, Kate and William donned aprons and took part in a cooking workshop at the facility, which is a government agency that conducts training and research in the hotel, tourism and food service industries.
Wearing white cooking jackets, the pair got into the pots and pans to whip up some authentic Quebec fare. They helped make foie gras with toasted brioche, Charlevoix lamb, lobster souffle and a cheesecake-type dish with caramel and meringue. The couple are slated to dine with Quebec Premier Jean Charest and his wife Michele.
Before heading to the French-speaking city, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge started the third day of their tour in Ottawa, Ontario, with a tree-planting ceremony at Government House that has become a royal family tradition and a visit to the Canadian War Museum.
Prince William, wearing a dark blue suit, and Kate, dressed in a grey, fitted knee-length Kensington dress by British designer Catherine Walker, each wielded a shovel as they helped plant a Canadian hemlock—a tree known for its longevity meant to symbolize their marriage.
Their tree was the 17th planted by a member of the British royal family in a tradition dating back to 1939. Prince William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, planted trees on previous visits at Rideau Hall, the official residence of both the Canadian monarch and Governor General, the queen's representative in Canada.

The couple then attended a reception at the Canadian War Museum with veterans of conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan. The couple met with the veterans and with war brides—about 45,000 women came from Europe to Canada as war brides after World War II, most of them from the United Kingdom.
Moments after entering the museum, the couple walked over to a group of seated women who served as nurses in the Canadian military during World War II and the Korean War. The royal pair spent several minutes with them.
The royal couple are in Quebec for a two-day stay.
A 2009 visit by Prince William's father, Prince Charles, to Montreal was disrupted by more than 200 separatist protesters. The protesters sat in the street, blocking the prince's way into a ceremony planned at an armory, and threw eggs at the soldiers who were accompanying him and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. The couple were forced to enter the building through a back door and missed an elaborate welcoming ceremony that had been planned.
In 1990, Canada Day celebrations were disrupted briefly by protesters from Quebec who booed and turned their back on the queen.
However, support for the separatists among Quebeckers has been on the decline in recent years as the 80-percent French-speaking province has enjoyed plenty of autonomy even without quitting Canada.
The royal couple leave Canada for a three-day trip to California on July 8.

Top 10 MarketWatch stories March 7 - 11

U.S. stocks climbed Friday despite the strongest earthquake to hit Japan in at least 300 years, but the market posted a weekly drop, with the Dow falling 1.03%, the S&P 500 off 1.28% and the Nasdaq down 2.48% for the week.

For all three measures /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 12,044, +59.79, +0.50%) /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,716, +14.59, +0.54%) /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,304, +9.17, +0.71%) , it marked the second weekly decline in the past three weeks.
The Japanese yen rose by the most in at least two weeks against the U.S. dollar and euro on Friday as traders anticipated Japanese investors and businesses will shift more assets back into the yen after the quake.
“The earthquake is likely to spur a large-scale repatriation of yen to fund the rebuild effort,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com. “Japan’s large current account surplus gives it room to sell assets and thus bring yen back onshore.”
“We saw the same action in 1995 when Japan experienced a large earthquake,” she said.
Gold notched a mild weekly loss, falling 0.5% as worries about mideast tension eased a bit.
On the week, oil lost 3.1%, and it settled lower Friday, for the fourth consecutive session, as Japan’s earthquake diverted attention from political strife in the Middle East and North Africa and stoked fears of a drop in demand for oil.
Also please remember to Watch our Week Ahead videos for Europe and the U.S.
Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editor
U.S. Week Ahead: HP’s New CEO to Meet Wall Street
Europe Week Ahead: Deutsche Lufthansa Reports
Huge quake devastates Japan
Japan’s most powerful earthquake in more than 100 years killed at least 1,000 people and triggered rising radiation levels at one of the nation’s several nuclear-power plants, according to reports Friday.The 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time near the east coast of Honshu, about 231 miles northeast of Tokyo.The quake also spawned a devastating 10-meter-high tsunami that wrecked the country’s northeastern coast and set off a series of tsunami alerts across four continents. Read MarketWatch coverage of Japan quake
Rattled Japanese face long, tough night
With subway and rail services halted, thousands of workers in Tokyo prepared for a long night, unsure whether families in the suburbs — or in the harder-hit northern prefectures — were safe. Earlier Friday, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, shaking buildings in Tokyo and sending workers running into the streets as offices were evacuated. Read more about the 8.9-magnitude Japan earthquake. Cell-phone networks were overwhelmed as thousands tried at the same time to call families and friends. Read MarketWatch’s Lisa Twaronite’s first person account of quake
Let demographic trends be your friends
As lives get longer, modern medicine becomes increasingly valuable to the elderly. China’s middle class and cities are growing at breakneck paces. There are a lot of hungry people in the world creating massive strain on food supplies and significant inflation. To show you what we mean, here are seven demographic shifts under way in the global economy right now — and the investments that could help you prosper as a result. Read MarketWatch commentary on demographic trends and investing.
GM CFO departure disappoints investors
The Microsoft guy who brought his much-needed financial chops to General Motors Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!gm/quotes/nls/gm (GM 31.93, +0.51, +1.62%) when the Detroit auto maker needed them the most is on his way out after just a year on the job. GM, in yet another surprise shake-up, announced this week that CFO Chris Liddell will step down on April 1. Taking his place is a 38-year-old Morgan Stanley alum. And investors don’t seem to like it one bit. Read MarketWatch story on GM CFO departure
Apple starts iPad 2 rollout amid heavy demand
Apple Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 351.99, +5.32, +1.53%) will kicked off sales of its latest gadget — the iPad 2 — at 5 PM local time Friday. Analysts are expecting demand to be much stronger than it was for the original iPad last year, when the market size for such tablet devices was relatively unknown. The iPad 2 will go on sale at Apple’s own retail stores as well as at retail giants Best Buy Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!bby/quotes/nls/bby (BBY 31.52, +0.61, +1.97%) , Target Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!tgt/quotes/nls/tgt (TGT 51.53, +0.37, +0.72%) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!wmt/quotes/nls/wmt (WMT 52.59, -0.06, -0.11%) Wireless carriers AT&T Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!t/quotes/nls/t (T 28.46, -0.15, -0.52%) and Verizon /quotes/comstock/13*!vz/quotes/nls/vz (VZ 35.85, -0.55, -1.51%) will also sell the device at their own retail locations. The new device has a much larger retail footprint than the first iPad, which was sold only at Apple and Best Buy stores. Read full MarketWatch coverage of iPad 2 rollout
OPEC loses clout as production hikes limited
A hike in output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may rattle energy markets, but it is unlikely to put much downward pressure on prices. Member countries are debating whether to increase their production, Kuwait’s oil minister told reporters in Kuwait City on Tuesday. A rise would come as the cartel tries to make up for lost output from Libya and quell fears of other supply disruptions elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. Read MarketWatch’s story on OPEC capacity
Ford’s Mulally drives home with muscle car payday
Charlie Sheen made almost $2 million for each episode of “Two and a Half Men.” San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito will earn $18.5 million this year for his 78-mph fastball and abysmal earned-run average. Perhaps $56.5 million in stock for the man who saved Ford Motor Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f (F 14.36, +0.30, +2.13%) , enriched shareholders and did his part in turning around a flagging U.S. industry doesn’t sound all that unreasonable. Ford’s Alan Mulally was awarded more than 3.8 million shares valued at $14.76 each. He also received 884,433 in underwater stock options as well as another 543,000 units that will be converted to stock in 2013. Read MarketWatch coverage of Ford CEO’s big payday
Banking on consolidation
The typical way most analysts recommend to investors to profit from mergers-and-acquisition activity is to look for possible targets before a deal is announced. But RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy proposed a new way to play the expected boom in bank mergers and acquisitions in coming years — not looking for prospective targets but snapping up acquirers, after they announce a purchase. Investors should “buy the buyers” roughly two days after deals are announced, according to Cassidy. Read MarketWatch story about investing strategy for expected bank consolidation
Middle east turmoil threatens to dampen luxury retailers’ outlook
The unrest in North Africa and the Middle East is enough to make investors in most industries nervous, but for the luxury sector in particular, it has the potential to become a significant problem. Not only is the industry particularly sensitive to economic expectations — and therefore to the growth worries created by spiking oil prices — it also generates healthy sales from the richer countries in the region, which could come under pressure if the political turmoil spreads. European luxury stocks have clearly underperformed in recent weeks compared to the Stoxx Europe 600 index. Read MarketWatch look at unrest’s knock-on effect on luxury retailers
Commentary: Capitalism tightens its grip on the U.S.
This country is a mess: Twenty million people can’t find a decent job. Twenty million live in a home that’s worth less than what they owe on it. Forty-three million can’t afford to eat without handouts from the government. Health care is increasingly expensive and humiliating. Retirement is out of reach. Our bridges and roads are crumbling. Our children aren’t learning. But there’s one group that’s doing just fine: the capitalists, you know, the people who own just about everything, the people we work for, shop for, die for. Read Rex Nutting commentary on capitalism’s tightening grip.