Opinion | How Dongguan’s sex trade plays into Hongkongers’ fears about an extradition deal with mainland China

Hongkongers fear that there are many pretexts on which they could be extradited to the mainland – having patronised Dongguan’s sex trade may just be one

The government created the crisis by introducing the ill-advised bill, now it must solve it

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An estimated 130,000 protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong on April 28 to oppose a legislative amendment that would allow the transfer of fugitives to the mainland. Photo: James Wendlinger

Published: 9:00am, 16 May 2019Updated: 11:37am, 16 May 2019

Some years ago, before the sweeping crackdown on Dongguan’s sex trade, numerous Hongkongers would make trips to patronise the city’s plentiful massage parlours and karaoke bars, where sex workers paraded for customers to choose from. Such pleasures, although illegal, were openly touted.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s corruption crackdown has since cleansed Dongguan, once known as China’s sin city. What if you had indulged in those pleasures but are now an anti-China activist? It wouldn’t be hard for the authorities on the mainland to dig up evidence showing you had been a frequent guest at Dongguan’s sex hotels and use that as a pretext to extradite you.

I am not saying this will happen but the fear that it could is just one of many reasons the government’s proposed changes to Hong Kong’s extradition laws, to allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China, terrifies so many Hongkongers. It wasn’t just wealthy Hong Kong businessmen with factories in Dongguan who frequented the sex establishments, ordinary Hongkongers did too. That’s why the trade flourished.

The Hong Kong government’s determination to push through its legislative amendment has exposed a huge disconnect between the administration and the people’s fears. Top officials, from Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor down, insist there’s nothing to fear if you have done nothing wrong. But Dongguan’s sex industry was so open, and corruption so rampant, that Hongkongers never thought about legality.

Police raid a hotel as part of a crackdown in Dongguan in February 2019. Photo: Reuters

Lam came into office promising to heal the societal split left behind by her predecessor Leung Chun-ying. Her extradition bill has buried that hope. There are whispers that even some of her advisers had counselled against rushing ahead with the extradition bill. The opposition now considers her more divisive than Leung.