本周二，加拿大聯邦法院對賴昌星案做出判決，宣布此前移民部對其全家發出的遣返令無效，接受賴昌星提出對遣返前風險評估進行司法復核的申請。賴昌星遣返案的緩慢進程至今已進行了七年，已成為中加關系間的一大障礙。

Smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing, one of China's most wanted fugitives, gestures while talking to media outside his residence in Vancouver, British Columbia June 1, 2006.[Reuters]

A Canadian judge gave Lai Changxing, asmuggling kingpin, another chance on Thursday to fight deportation from Canada to face charges of running a smuggling empire.

The Canadian official who approved Lai's removal order failed to properly consider Lai's claim that he would be tortured, a Federal Court judge ruled.

Lai's bid forpolitical asylumin Canada already has been rejected.

The slow pace of Lai's deportation case -- which has gone on for seven years -- has become a thorn in Chinese-Canadian relations even though Ottawa has supported Beijing's efforts to have him returned.

The Canadian government can appeal this decision. If it doesn't, officials would have to repeat their review of the risks Lai faces. Lai's attorney David Matas said that could stretch the process out for another two years before it is resolved.

China has made it clear that Lai will not be tortured or executed, but the judge said the official who approved Lai's removal failed to determine if the assurances on torture were "meaningful and reliable".

A relaxed-looking Lai, who is living under limited house arrest in Vancouver, told a news conference he was pleased by the decision, but would accept whatever decision the Canadian courts finally make.

Canada, which does not havecapital punishment, normally refuses to extradite people to countries where they could face the death penalty.

Lai is accused of running a multibillion-dollar operation that bribed officials and police to avoid taxes and duties on goods ranging from oil to cigarettes that were smuggled into China's Fujian province in the 1990s.

Lai has denied wrongdoing and has said the allegations are politically motivated, a claim Canadian immigration officials dismissed in rejecting his asylum bid.

Lai, who grew up in a peasant family, said if allowed to stay in Canada he would turn to farming. "He says being a farmer is the safest," a translator told reporters.

（Agencies） 

Vocabulary:    

smuggling kingpin: 走私案重要嫌犯

political asylum: 政治避難

capital punishment: 死刑

（英語點津陳蓓編輯）