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Letters | With extradition bill, Carrie Lam is risking everything Hong Kong has achieved so far
- The proposal to amend Hong Kong law to allow fugitive transfers to mainland China undermines the city’s reputation for the rule of law upon which its future as a business and financial centre hinges
Kofi Annan once said, “Often we mistake stability, in terms of security and economic activity, to mean a country is doing well. We forget the third and important pillar: rule of law and respect for human rights.”
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would do well to take note of this quote because, by blindly pursuing changes to the extradition laws, she may set Hong Kong on an irreversible path to destruction (“Controversial fugitive bill to be fast-tracked past Legco scrutiny panel”, May 20).
A few points to note here:
1. Hongkongers value the freedom of speech and the rule of law more than anything else.
2. The trust in Hong Kong’s long-standing protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic values is one of the main reasons the city is a favoured investment destination for foreign nations or companies.
3. Hong Kong’s governance is already under scrutiny from the US and European governments after its decision to not renew the work visa of Victor Mallet, former Asia news editor at the Financial Times.
4. Mrs Lam’s argument that the mainland was never deliberately excluded from Hong Kong’s extradition laws before the city returned to Chinese rule has already been repudiated by Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, who called the claim “untrue and absurd”.
5. The US and the European Union have voiced serious concern over Hong Kong’s plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.
6. If the extradition bill is eventually passed by the government, it increases the probability that the US government will review and cancel the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992. That would deal a deadly blow to Hong Kong’s trade and financial system.
7. Some extradition bill supporters have argued that Lam cannot take back the bill because she might lose her credibility. However, you cannot lose something that you do not have in the first place – Mrs Lam’s popularity ratings continue to be at all-time lows.
While supporters of Mrs Lam’s government form the majority in the Legislative Council and can get the extradition bill passed, doing so may risk everything that Hong Kong has been able to achieve in the past several years. Rather than trying to bring in a controversial law which is opposed by a large majority, the administration could use its massive resources to consult with legal experts and figure out a non-controversial way of deporting the fugitive in question to Taiwan.
Arun Garg, Taikoo Shing
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