Fugitive billionaire from China tired after ongoing extradition battle

One of Canada's most infamous refugee claimants, Lai Changxing, won't be leaving the country anytime soon.

Lai, a Chinese billionaire who is accused of being a smuggling kingpin, has been living in Vancouver for seven years and fighting extradition to China, where he's wanted on bribery and smuggling charges.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has just begun a new assessment to determine what will happen to Lai if he's deported, a process that could take months, according to his lawyer.

Lai told a Vancouver news conference Tuesday he never expected the process to go on as long as it has and he's very tired.

He maintains he is just a fall guy in China's crackdown on corruption.

His lawyer, David Matas, said it could take a number of months for the federal department to do the assessment, and if a ruling goes against Lai he will appeal the decision in court.

Matas said Lai will be killed if he's sent back to China.

"He cannot get a fair trial in China or expect even to be fairly treated in China once he is in prison,'' Matas claimed.

"There's a lot of invective against corruption in China of the most vicious sort, suggesting that people should be killed.''

Lai's claim for refugee status has been rejected several times.