Sun 09 June 2019:
The new bill would make it easier to extradite people to mainland China
Some half a million people are expected to protest a new law in Hong Kong on Sunday that gives criminal suspects to be sent to China to face trial, groups said. The rally is expected to be the largest since 2003 when a similar number of people stopped proposed national security laws. The protests are the culmination of widespread criticism the bill has received from lawyers, students, and other countries, including the United States.
The government in Beijing says the bill will put an end to loopholes in the island’s current laws, allowing it to decide on a case-by-case basis to extradite fugitives to territories where it has no such deal. Under the new laws, those facing criminal charges could be sent to China to face trial, which those opposing the bill say would subject them to China’s court and security system. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam insists that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure those facing political and religious persecution, torture or the death penalty would not be extradited. The chief executive has to sign off on any extradition, court hearings and appeals must first be exhausted and the government has insisted judges will play a key “gatekeeper” role. But, some senior judges have expressed deep-set fears over the changes.
Veteran Democratic Party lawmaker James To told Reuters that he believed a big turnout on Sunday could finally sway Hong Kong’s embattled government. “It could really force a severe re-think by the government,” he said. “There is everything to play for … People really sense this is a turning point for Hong Kong.” Hong Kong has a population of approximately 7.5 million people, according to UN data. Sunday’s march will cap an unusually political week for the city. Some 180,000 people held a candle-lit vigil on Tuesday to mark 30 years since the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, and the city’s lawyers held a rally on Thursday. The bill has received international criticism, with some nations threatening to remove special permissions for the semi-autonomous region.
Foreign ministers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany have spoken against the bill and envoys from 11 European Union countries met Hong Kong’s chief executive to protest the move. A US State Department spokeswoman on Saturday said the bill “puts at risk Hong Kong’s long-established special status in international affairs”. Influential Republican Senator Marco Rubio has repeatedly criticised the bill and a spokeswoman for his office said he was expected to reintroduce his bipartisan “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act”, which would update a 1992 law that has afforded Hong Kong trade and economic privileges not enjoyed by mainland China.
The act would ask the US Secretary of State to certify each year that Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous before enacting news laws or agreements granting the state different treatment. Hong Kong is one of two special administrative regions of China, which grants it the highest degree of autonomy and is not considered a part of mainland China. The other region is the former Portuguese colony of Macau.
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