Assurances by the Chinese government that a fugitive won't face the death penalty or be tortured if returned to face corruption charges have convinced a Federal Court judge not to halt his deportation.

Lai Changxing has been fighting to remain in Canada since arriving in 1999 after accusations in his homeland he masterminded a smuggling operation that siphoned millions from the Chinese government.

He was arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency two weeks ago after the federal government said it accepted China's pledge.

In a judgement released Thursday evening in Vancouver, Justice Michel Shore agreed and dismissed the man's application for a stay of deportation.

"Mr. Lai is a common criminal fugitive from the Chinese justice system who has had full access to Canada's immigration processes over the last eleven years and has been found not to be at risk if removed to China on the basis of extraordinary assurances received and held as valid by the minister's delegate," Shore said in his judgment.

"Therefore, the balance of convenience does not favour further delaying his removal, but favours removing him at this time."

But in court earlier in the day, Lai's lawyer argued there's no guarantee China will keep its promise.

Lawyer David Matas suggested his client would never get a fair trial in China. He said Communist officials are using his client to deflect allegations of corruption against some of their own members.

"He's become the poster boy for the fight against corruption," Matas said via telephone from Berlin.

After the decision, Matas didn't immediately return a call for comment.

A lawyer for the Canada Border Services Agency has said Lai could be removed from Canada as soon as Monday.

In court on Thursday, federal government lawyers contended Lai won't be singled out for torture like those who are in prison on religious grounds, because they have HIV/AIDS or are Tibetan.

Chinese officials not only assured Canada that Lai won't be executed or tortured, but that he will get a fair trial with access to a lawyer if he's returned.

But Matas said there's no guarantee China will keep its promise, pointing out that many trials and executions in the communist country aren't made public.

"Mr. Lai could be tried, sentenced and executed and Canadian officials would never know."

He added that Lai's brother and his accountant have both died mysteriously in prison.

"There's no point in speculating how they died, we don't know. If it can happen to them, it can happen to Mr. Lai and that is troubling."

While Lai has been promised a lawyer to defend himself in China, Matas told the hearing China only provides lawyers for guilty pleas, not to raise a defence.

Federal government lawyer Helen Park countered that Lai's risk of dying in prison is remote because there is a very small number of unnatural prison deaths in China.

Park told the court Lai is accused in China of running a smuggling operation that involved billions of dollars in goods, evading taxes and bribing custom officials.

On the phone from Vancouver, federal government lawyer Jan Brongers told Shore that China has made a rare political commitment to Canada not to put Lai to death or torture him.

Going back on that promise would damage China's international reputation, Brongers told the judge, who was listening from Ottawa.

"To put it as plainly as possible, if they (renege) on the deal it will make it much more difficult for China to persuade other countries that it is safe to repatriate alleged fugitives back to China for trial," Brongers said.

Much of the hearing focused on the federal government's latest pre-removal risk assessment, completed July 7. The assessment spurred Lai's arrest and detention ahead of his possible expulsion from Canada.

The report said Lai is in a very different category than those who are usually tortured in prison, such as political prisoners or those who are in the investigation stage of their trial.

Park said the author of Lai's risk report felt that the authorities would not have to coerce a confession out of Lai because they have such a strong case against him.

But Matas noted in his rebuttal that Lai hasn't even officially been charged in China, so his case is in the investigation stage and Chinese officials regularly use confessions elicited by torture at trial.

Canadian officials have been told they can attend Lai's open court hearings, but Matas said most politically-sensitive cases in China are held behind closed doors.

"This is obviously a politically-sensitive proceeding. The governments of Canada and China have commented on it several times."

Park said Lai himself has been negotiating with Chinese officials very recently about his possible return. Matas later told the court that Lai hasn't been satisfied that he would be safe if he went back voluntarily.

Officials with Canada Border Services Agency arrested him two weeks ago, a day after the second pre-removal risk assessment by the federal government.

The first risk assessment released in 2006 also said he was safe to be returned, but a Federal Court overturned that decision.

The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered Lai released Wednesday but within hours the Federal Court issued a stay of that decision. Changxing remained behind bars.