The case of Hong Kong resident John Cheung, who is charged with various financial offences in the US, has brought an extremely welcome statement from Washington on the status of Hong Kong as far as such legal areas are concerned. But now the US administration needs to win in the courts if a dangerous situation is not to be created.
Extradition proceedings to bring Mr Cheung home were halted by a Federal District Court judge on the grounds that extradition agreements can only be entered into with a 'foreign government' - and that this means treaties must be with a sovereign country, which did not apply to the SAR. The US Justice Department has now filed an appeal which, in the words of the Consulate-General here, 'reaffirms Hong Kong's status as a valid, autonomous treaty partner in accordance with the authorisations of its sovereign power'.
The preservation of Hong Kong's legal status was always a key element in the SAR's establishment. From time to time, US lawyers have tried to argue that anybody extradited back to Hong Kong would face mainland law. As even the most cursory examination of the judicial system here would show, this is patently absurd. It falls into the same category as the congressmen who see Hong Kong firms operating Panama Canal ports as agents of the People's Liberation Army.
The final sentence of the Consulate-General's statement adds that the District Court ruling 'impermissibly intrudes upon the conduct of our foreign affairs' since the President and Congress have already concluded that the SAR is a valid extradition treaty partner.
If this is upheld in the appeal, it could end the whole argument about the SAR's status which US lawyers have used in recent years. Given the way in which the extradited can expect a fair trial once they are returned to Hong Kong, that would be no bad thing, and would speed up the process of justice without putting defendants at any increased risk. It could also avoid the risk for the United States of becoming a judicially-protected haven for fugitives from the SAR.
