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Hong Kong extradition bill
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Hong Kong’s government intends to start handing over fugitives to mainland China. Photo: Edward Wong

Only ministry-level mainland Chinese bodies will request extraditions from Hong Kong, says security chief John Lee

  • Security chief looks to ease public concerns over plan to start handing over fugitives to countries with which city lacks agreement, including mainland China

Requests for Hong Kong to hand over fugitives to mainland China will only come from Beijing’s ministry-level bodies, the city’s security chief said on Saturday, adding that those from provincial levels would not be considered.

In a bid to ease public concerns over the legal amendment, which will allow Hong Kong to transfer suspects to places it does not have an extradition deal with, security minister John Lee Ka-chiu said there would be “checks and balances”, even on the mainland.

Speaking on a radio programme, Lee said the central government customarily launched extradition requests from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that such cases would go through many other departments, such as the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Public Security.

“The request is made from a high level, so checks and balances … definitely exist,” Lee said.

Lee rejected critics’ claims that the government bowed to pressure from the business sector when it removed white-collar crimes from the amendment. Photo: Edmond So

The minister disclosed that mainland authorities planned to centralise any extradition requests to Hong Kong, meaning they would only come from ministry-level bodies.

“The meaning of centralisation is that they will not accept provincial-level [requests],” Lee said, adding that such requests would have to go through a higher office.

He said there would be transparency in future extradition cases, as media outlets both local and overseas would report the trials extensively.

The bill to amend two laws – the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance – will be tabled at the Legislative Council next Wednesday.

The meaning of centralisation is that they will not accept provincial-level [requests]
John Lee, security minister

On Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Lee announced that nine white-collar crimes had been taken out of the amendment, after the administration faced a serious backlash from the business sector in Hong Kong.

Such crimes include those related to tax, securities and futures trading, intellectual property, company offences, and unlawful use of computers.

Lee on Saturday rejected critics’ claims that the government had bowed to pressure from the business sector, saying he had considered the views of various sectors.

While he acknowledged the sentiment that only the business sector was heard, Lee said he removed the unlawful use of computers from the amendment as it has been a controversial matter.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said in a separate occasion on Saturday that there was no conspiracy theory behind the legal amendment, and the threshold of transferring a suspect to other places was clear.

“Taking out nine crimes from the amendment is not doing a favour to the business sector. Any individual could commit such crimes involving tax and unlawful use of computers,” Cheung said. “Do not look at the matter through coloured lenses. We do it for justice.”

University of Hong Kong legal scholar Eric Cheung Tat-ming said Lee had failed to address the “most basic concerns”.

“The problem is that a fair trial is not guaranteed on the mainland,” Cheung said.

There are doubts over whether suspects will be allowed to pick their own legal representative, and whether courts can act freely of central government influence.

Cheung also questioned if the city’s leader would reject extradition requests from the mainland.

“If the request comes directly from the central government, it may be hard for the chief executive to reject,” Cheung said.

The city’ pro-democracy camp, which has been vocal against the amendment, was set to hold a march on Sunday from Wan Chai to the government’s Admiralty headquarters.

The proposal to amend the law came last month, when the government presented it as a direct response to the case of a Hongkonger who, under the existing law, cannot be extradited to Taiwan where he is wanted on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend last year.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Extradition requests ‘only at ministry level’, minister says
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