International call to halt extradition treaties with Hong Kong after China imposes tough national security law

Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China wants assurances from Western countries that no extraditions to HK will take place and treaties will be reviewed

Officials from both China and Hong Kong express opposition to Canadian move to suspend its extradition agreement

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The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China seeks assurances from member countries that extraditions to Hong Kong will stop in light of China’s imposition of a national security law. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:00pm, 6 Jul 2020Updated: 5:32pm, 6 Jul 2020

An international coalition of lawmakers has called on Western countries to stop extradition to Hong Kong in response to Beijing’s imposition of a tough national security law on the city, after Canada became the first to do so.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a bloc of legislators formed in June to coordinate an approach by democracies towards China, urged member countries to suspend their extradition agreements with Hong Kong after the national security legislation had “severely undermined the rule of law”. Effective since last Tuesday, the law criminalised acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces in Hong Kong with punishment of up to life in prison.

The meeting of 16 IPAC co-chairs “committed to coordinate efforts to ensure that no one has to face extradition to Hong Kong, where the rule of law is severely compromised following the imposition of the so-called national security law”, the group said on Saturday.

“Members are urgently seeking assurances from their respective governments that no such extraditions will take place and that existing treaties with the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) are reviewed.”

Nine countries represented in IPAC – Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain and the United States – have extradition arrangements with Hong Kong. A total of 20 countries have extradition agreements with Hong Kong, including nations that do not have similar arrangements with mainland China, such as Australia, Germany, Britain, the US, India, Singapore and Malaysia.