“This guy is very smart, but even extra smart people make misjudgments,” said Ding Xueliang, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “With all important issues, the Hong Kong government is always very, very cooperative. If the U.S. government is serious about taking Mr. Snowden, Hong Kong will do it quickly.”

In his interviews with the Guardian, Snowden said that he had left for Hong Kong on May 20 and was holed up in an expensive hotel, near the site of the U.S. consulate. He said he had chosen Hong Kong for its reputation as a bastion of free speech and human rights.

“Mainland China does have significant restrictions on free speech, but the people of Hong Kong have a long tradition of protesting in the streets, or making their views known,” said Snowden in the videotaped interview. “The Hong Kong government is actually independent in relation to a lot of other Western governments.”

There have been several high-profile cases in which suspects have been extradited from Hong Kong, although in more conventional criminal disputes. A man later convicted of raping his daughter was returned in 2007; Albert Hu, a Silicon Valley hedge fund manager, was returned in 2009 to stand trial for allegedly defrauding investors.

U.S. citizens can enter Hong Kong without a visa but usually are given stays of only 90 days. After that, Snowden would face deportation or extradition.

Despite the handover to China in 1997, the former British colony still follows a common law tradition system modeled on the United Kingdom’s. It does not extradite in death penalty cases unless capital punishment is waived.

“There are very strong guarantees of political and civil freedoms in Hong Kong, but there is a limit to its autonomy under the ‘one country two systems’ model, especially with respect to national defense and security,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a Human Rights Watch researcher based in Hong Kong.

Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong is rich with irony and, in theory, could have far-reaching repercussions. Last year, the United States granted political asylum to blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who had taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Some Chinese are suggesting China should do the same for Snowden.

“Snowden is a real human rights activist! He is now in China’s territory, we must protect him. We should contribute to the world’s human rights by resisting the pressure from the U.S.,” wrote Wang Xiaodong, a prominent writer on his microblog on Monday.

Meanwhile, Washington and Beijing are locked in a cycle of recriminations over cyber espionage. The bombshell about the National Security Agency’s extensive surveillance program, known as PRISM, broke last week on the eve of the summit in California, where President Barack Obama hoped to press Chinese President Xi Jinping to rein in China’s hacking operations.

Beijing, however, has chosen not to capitalize on the U.S. government’s embarrassment. The tightly controlled state press on the mainland has barely mentioned the U.S. surveillance program and was silent Monday on Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong.

“The reason is that Beijing is doing all sorts of dodgy things ranging from surveillance to hacking. I don’t think they want to draw attention by being excessively critical of the United States,’” said Jeremy Goldkorn, a Beijing media analyst.

The wording of the extradition treaty between the United States and Hong Kong gives Beijing veto right if “surrender of a fugitive would harm defense, foreign affairs or essential public interest or policy.”

Ding doesn’t expect the Chinese Communist Party will want to step in on Snowden’s behalf — not even to use him as a bargaining chip. “They have other things to use when dealing with Washington. They won’t want to touch it after Xi Jinping’s trip to America.”

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©2013 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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