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Hong Kong Makes Last Push to Scrap Extradition Bill


Students chain themselves as they protest to demand authorities to scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, June 8, 2019.
Students chain themselves as they protest to demand authorities to scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, June 8, 2019.

At least half a million people in Hong Kong are expected to brave sweltering heat Sunday to press the government to scrap a proposed extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to China to face trial, organizers of the march said.

A committee of pro-democratic groups has raised turnout estimates and are now eyeing the biggest single-day rally since 2003, when a similar number of protesters forced the government to shelve tighter national security laws.

The march will end at the city’s Legislative Council, where debates start Wednesday into sweeping amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. The extradition bill is expected to be passed by the end of the month.

After weeks of growing local and international pressure, the protest is expected to reflect the broad range of opposition to the bill, with many saying they simply cannot trust China’s court system or its security apparatus.

Thousands of legal professionals wearing black, stage a silent protest to the Central Government Offices, demanding authorities scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, June 6, 2019.
Thousands of legal professionals wearing black, stage a silent protest to the Central Government Offices, demanding authorities scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, June 6, 2019.

Widespread concern

The city’s independent legal system was guaranteed under laws governing Hong Kong’s return from British to Chinese rule 22 years ago, and is seen by the financial hub’s business and diplomatic communities as its strongest remaining asset amid encroachments from Beijing.

Concerns have spread from the city’s democratic and human rights groups to secondary school students, church groups and media lobbies as well as corporate lawyers and pro-establishment business figures, some usually loathe to contradict the government.

Veteran Democratic Party lawmaker James To told Reuters that he believed a big turnout 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.”

FILE - Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after she swore an oath of office on the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, July 1, 2017.
FILE - Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after she swore an oath of office on the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, July 1, 2017.

That concern has mounted despite extensive efforts by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her senior officials, both in public and private, to insist that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure that anyone facing political and religious persecution or torture would not be extradited.

Similarly, anyone facing a death penalty would not be extradited, but legislative oversight of extradition arrangements has been removed under the bill.

While 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.

Thousands of people attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Chinese government's brutal military crackdown three decades ago on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, June 4, 2019.
Thousands of people attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Chinese government's brutal military crackdown three decades ago on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, June 4, 2019.

Political week

Some senior judges have expressed deep-set fears over the changes, however.

The march will cap an intense political week for the city, with an estimated 180,000 people holding a candle-lit vigil Tuesday to mark 30 years since the Tiananmen Square crackdown and a rare rally by the city’s lawyers Thursday.

It follows an earlier protest by more than 100,000 people in late May.

Commercial lawyer and commentator Kevin Yam said he expected many people who attended the recent rallies would turn out Sunday.

He said it was the first time since the handover that the government had ignored both the concerns of the international community and the local business community at the same time.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his British and German counterparts have spoken against the bill, while 11 European Union envoys met Carrie Lam to formally protest.

“This is beyond a question of politics at this point, it is about not doing something stupid,” Yam said.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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