Hong Kong plans to make it possible for the first time to extradite criminals to China in a move that critics worry could be misused by Beijing to detain people passing through the international business hub for political or other reasons.
The territory’s security bureau this week proposed to amend a law that has long prevented the transfer of fugitives from Hong Kong to either China, Macau or Taiwan, to instead allow extradition requests from the three jurisdictions to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The suggested changes would allow Hong Kong’s chief executive, who is appointed directly by Beijing, to issue arrest certificates. A final decision on the surrender of fugitives would be decided by a court as a safeguard for defendants’ legal and human rights.
The move is likely to intensify fears that the territory has lost some of the autonomy from mainland China granted to it under the Basic Law, a mini-constitution that guarantees Hong Kong’s legal autonomy and civil rights.
Hong Kong and China have been trying to move closer in judicial matters, with measures to introduce mutual recognition of civil and commercial judgments in their different jurisdictions in January, and the easing of barriers for setting up law firms.
But the territory has also been rocked by cases of people going missing from Hong Kong and reappearing in China, raising fears that an extradition treaty could be misused for political purposes.
In 2015, five Hong Kong booksellers selling politically sensitive publications vanished with all of them eventually reappearing in China. One of them, Lee Bo, disappeared from Hong Kong before turning up in China, claiming that he went there “voluntarily” to “assist with [an] investigation”.
Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua was abducted from Hong Kong by Chinese agents in 2017 and has not been seen since.
Hong Kong has signed long-term mutual extradition agreements with 20 countries, including the US and UK, and has agreed to provide criminal legal assistance to 32 others. Under the current law, the city’s Legislative Council handles extradition arrest requests.
However, other parts of China, such as Macau, are currently explicitly excluded from any extradition arrangements.
The proposed amendment of the law, which the government is pushing to be approved by Hong Kong’s legislature by July, stems from an alleged murder in Taiwan last year.
Without extradition arrangements, the government was unable to send a Hong Kong man suspected of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Taipei back to Taiwan for trial. Instead, he is facing charges for allegedly stealing his girlfriend’s possessions in Hong Kong.
Pro-democracy legislative councillors Alvin Yeung and Dennis Kwok said that in a meeting on Wednesday with the secretary for security, the government made it clear the amendment was a stepping stone towards a full extradition agreement with the mainland.
Mr Kwok said he would not accept the proposal. “We don’t trust the integrity of the judicial system in China.” He added that anyone who transferred through Hong Kong airport, a major international hub, would be at risk of extradition to China under the amendment.
He said the case of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the country’s leading telecom equipment maker, Huawei, who was detained in Canada last year under an extradition treaty with the US, could happen to a US businessperson transiting in Hong Kong.
Ms Meng was arrested after the US accused her of fraud.
Philip Dykes, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, speaking in a personal capacity, said a full extradition agreement typically would indicate an acceptance of the other jurisdiction’s judicial system.
He said that the UK and other countries had concerns over China’s legal system, such as secret trials and the independence of the judiciary.
However, Holden Chow, a solicitor and pro-Beijing lawmaker, supported the amendment, saying that it would plug “legislative loopholes” that potentially made Hong Kong a “paradise for fugitives”.
