HONG KONG SUSPENDS EXTRADITION BILL

June 16, 2019

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam indefinitely delayed a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, in a dramatic retreat after anger over the Bill triggered the city’s biggest and most violent street protests in decades.

About:

Objective of recent bill: The proposed extradition bill which, if passed, would have allowed the city government to extradite any suspect to places with which Hong Kong does not have extradition accords.
Justification of Bill by Hong Kong government:
- When Hong Kong’s extradition agreements were finalised, mainland China and Taiwan were left out because those regions had fundamentally different criminal justice systems from that of the city.
- This “loophole” allows suspected criminals to avoid trial elsewhere by taking refuge in the city. The bill would close the loophole so that suspects wanted elsewhere, including in mainland China, could be extradited.
Opposition to the bill:
- Civil society groups and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists say the bill will allow mainland China to deepen its influence in Hong Kong. When Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 by Britain, it was agreed that the city would remain a semi-autonomous region under the Basic Law.
- It will practically break the existing legal barriers between Hong Kong and mainland China that are guaranteed under the “One Country Two Systems” model, say the protesters.
What is next?
- Decision to suspend the Bill indefinitely is a major victory to the protesters.
- While the government’s U-turn could calm tensions for now, the crisis has exposed, once again, the growing distrust between the city’s pro-Beijing authorities and its civil society.