Kevin Sinclair's Hong Kong

A veteran SCMP reporter, Kevin examines the good, bad and ugly sides of life in the city. E-mail him at kevin.sinclair@scmp.com Convicted grafter Derek Wong Chong-kwong skipped bail last month on bribery charges. He is believed to have fled overseas. If the wanted tycoon is located on the mainland, what chance do we have of getting him back to serve his sentence? That's a question the Hong Kong government finds difficult to answer. If the share manipulator has picked the right bolt-hole, it will be as difficult to get him back as luring a rat out of his lair. It's bad enough if thieves, swindlers and embezzlers make it to their country of choice, Canada, where they seem to be fondly treated as an exotic endangered species. It's even more complex if a fugitive takes cover on the mainland. We may enjoy 'one country, two systems' when it comes to economic and political links, but things become a lot more complicated when it involves shuffling criminals across the Shenzhen border to face justice. Police admit they have no idea how many criminals wanted in Hong Kong are hiding out across the border. Last year, 12 wanted people were sent back to the welcoming arms of the Hong Kong police. This year, there have been three renditions. In the same period, the city has not returned any wanted fugitives to the mainland. It's a challenge that legal authorities on both sides of the Shenzhen River have been trying to resolve for years. A spokesman for the Security Bureau said discussions on the issue had been going on between Hong Kong and the mainland for eight years. I can tell you virtually no progress has been made since 1999. The Security Bureau official noted that because of 'very significant differences' in the legal systems, the issues are extremely complicated. 'It will take some time to conclude,' the spokesman added. Before we can expect to see a fair and equal deal in handing over criminals at the border, there will have to be local laws passed to allow it. Can't you imagine the gab-fest that lawyers, Legco members, human rights and civil liberties groups will make out of this? 'We shall proceed to initiate the consultation and legislative process when discussions are complete,' the Security Bureau official said. What this means, in simple English, is that we are nowhere near having a flexible, workable and realistic system under which rapists, bank robbers, grafters and murderers can be sent from one part of China to another part of China. This is not only regrettable, it's ridiculous. One problem is the way in which laws are defined. 'Theft' under mainland law is different than the same offence under Hong Kong law. Then there are differing notions of jurisdiction. The mainland believes it has jurisdiction over a case if the suspect is grabbed there. But the biggest hurdle in returning wanted men to the mainland from overseas is the use of the death penalty for many crimes, including drug smuggling, corruption and fraud, as well as murder, rape and terrorism. Although Hong Kong does not hand over wanted felons to the mainland, our lawyers and politicians seem to think the mainland should bow to our wishes when they catch thugs wanted by our law enforcement system. Take the case of Cheung Tze-Keung, a murderer, bank robber, arms smuggler, kidnapper and all-round gangster better known as 'Big Spender'. Back in the 1990s, he led a gang that brought lawlessness to Hong Kong and terror to tycoons. He grabbed members of two billionaire families and reportedly pocketed ransoms of US$127 million. The kidnappings were not reported to Hong Kong police. But we wanted to bring him back here for trial for numerous other crimes. Although many of Cheung's worst offences had been committed in Hong Kong, he had planned them on the mainland. So under the mainland system, he went on trial in Guangzhou, was found guilty and in December 1998 was executed. Some wanted people find themselves in the arms of the law through bizarre circumstances. Take bodybuilder and former Seattle sheriff's deputy Kenneth Freeman. Police in America are extremely anxious to interview him about three counts of child rape and of posting sex acts between himself and his daughter on the internet. Freeman jumped bail in America and sought refuge on the mainland. There's no extradition agreement between Beijing and Washington. In May this year, he travelled to Hong Kong and was arrested at the border. The international system of returning criminals to countries where they are wanted is a mess. The arrangements between Hong Kong and the mainland are ludicrous. Isn't it time both systems were fixed?