Opinion | Why did Germany feel the need to grant asylum to Hong Kong riot fugitives? Ask Carrie Lam
- Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with Germany, so why didn’t the government seek to have the Mong Kok pair returned?
- Probably because it didn’t want the city’s dirty linen washed in public, amid perceptions that our freedoms are being eroded
If a government exercises its sovereign right to implement its own laws within its own country, can that in any way be construed as meddling in the internal affairs of another country? To me, the answer is a no-brainer. But try explaining that to the Hong Kong government.
Let’s get this straight. If Hong Kong kicks out foreign journalists, it is solely our matter. Countries that protest are interfering in our internal affairs. But if Germany accepts Hongkongers as political refugees, it is not solely Germany’s matter. We have a right to protest, and doing so is not interfering in Germany’s internal affairs.
Now I get it. Deciding what is or is not interference is solely a prerogative of Hong Kong and Beijing. The Financial Times reported last week that Chinese officials in Germany tried to prevent the Hong Kong pair from gaining political asylum. But that, of course, would not be Beijing interfering in Germany’s internal affairs.
Our government and loyalists alleged Germany, in granting two Hong Kong fugitives political asylum, was effectively telling the world Hong Kong was inflicting political persecution. Don’t they understand it’s not Germany but our government that told the world this by expelling Mallet, who had committed no crime by hosting an independence talk?