IF China succeeds in an attempt to extradite a Hong Kong man from Macau to face a possible death sentence on the mainland, it would set a dangerous precedent for Macau's judicial system, the man's lawyer warned yesterday.

Pedro Redinha said the case of Yeung Yuk-leung, 35, arrested in Macau in December on charges of strangling a woman in a mainland hotel, was an important test for the enclave, which recently became judicially independent from Portugal.