The trial in Sichuan of Zhou Yongjun, a student leader during the Tiananmen protests who was sent to Shenzhen by Hong Kong immigration authorities, focused attention on the absence of a rendition agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland, more than 12 years after the handover.
The case is still shrouded in mystery. Zhou arrived last year by ferry from Macau carrying a Malaysian passport in the name Wang Xingxiang - the same as that used by a person trying to withdraw funds from a Hang Seng Bank account. After he was sent to the mainland, he was charged with fraud and the trial began on November 19.
The government says Hong Kong residents are never sent to the mainland. Zhou, however, was believed to be a mainlander and he did not tell police he had a US green card.
Calls for a rendition agreement arose a decade ago when Hong Kong was shaken by two major crimes: the kidnapping of Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of Li Ka-shing, and the murders of five women in the Telford Gardens housing estate. The perpetrators of both crimes were captured and tried on the mainland as China's Criminal Code gives mainland courts jurisdiction over crimes committed by Chinese nationals overseas.
Formal negotiations began in 1999 but an accord remains elusive. Actually, under an informal arrangement, stemming from the British colonial period, China has been sending back fugitives wanted in Hong Kong. From 1990 until this month, 321 have been returned.
Thus, Hong Kong stands to gain little from a formal rendition agreement. It takes the position that it cannot return any fugitive offenders to the mainland 'in the absence of a formal arrangement which is supported by legislation'.
The situation was such that, when he was premier, Zhu Rongji was quoted as saying that he could chase criminals to the ends of the earth but could not grab them in Hong Kong. Mainland leaders fear corrupt officials could use Hong Kong as a springboard to other countries with which China has no extradition agreement.