Letters | More will follow Ray Wong and Alan Li on asylum, if Hong Kong passes new extradition law

Hongkongers simply can’t be sure that the amended law would not herald a crackdown on dissent, putting local activists in danger, and further curtail political and civil rights

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Pro-government demonstrators hold up posters of Hong Kong activists Ray Wong and Alan Li, who have been granted asylum in Germany, at a rally in the city on May 23. Photo: AP

Published: 8:35am, 28 May 2019Updated: 11:50am, 30 May 2019

I write in response to news that two leading members of the pro-independence group Hong Kong Indigenous, Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, have sought and been granted asylum in a foreign country, likely becoming the first political activists from Hong Kong to have done so.

The proposed amendment to the extradition law, which threatens to put Hongkongers at the mercy of the mainland judicial system, will plausibly result in more people seeking such refuge.

In recent years, Beijing has time and again undermined Hong Kong’s aspiration for democracy. It impeded electoral reform in Hong Kong in 2015 and continues to deny Hong Kong people their right to universal suffrage. In September last year, the Hong Kong government, with Beijing’s backing, banned the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party. Beijing’s political interventions over the years have restricted civil rights in the city, and raised concern that no dissent at all against the government will be allowed.

The Hong Kong government reiterates that those accused of political crime would not be subject to the proposed extradition law. Yet, people in Hong Kong believe that pro-democracy activists, journalists and anti-government dissidents that incur Beijing’s wrath would be extradited to mainland China once the proposal is passed.

Mainland China is known for its opaque legal and criminal system, in which individuals can encounter arbitrary detention, forced confessions, torture and closed criminal trials. This unfair and unjust system terrifies Hong Kong people. Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong is subject to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Any form of extradition which imposes a risk of torture, ill-treatment and unfair trials must be prohibited.