Fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau launches legal challenge against Hong Kong government proposal to change extradition law

The fallout over the government’s controversial plan to allow the transfer of suspects from Hong Kong to mainland China, Taiwan and Macau intensified on Monday with fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung seeking to challenge it in court, even as the city’s leader doubled down on the extradition proposal.

Billionaire Lau, who is hiding in Hong Kong to avoid serving a jail term in Macau for bribery, applied for a judicial review of the government’s proposed changes to the extradition law that would allow the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions that the city has no agreement with, on a case-by-case basis.

Observers saw Lau’s challenge as more of a political gesture than a case that the courts would entertain, while Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insisted she would not withdraw the new extradition bill, regardless of mounting opposition that saw thousands take to the streets against it on Sunday.

“We won’t shelve the bill, which has been submitted to the Legislative Council for discussion,” Lam said, hours before Lau’s legal bid came to light. “[We] hope the scrutiny will be completed as soon as possible.”

The extradition plan has become a political headache for the government because of concerns that people handed over to mainland authorities could be victimised under a different legal system across the border, while both the international and local business communities have warned it could damage the city’s reputation as a haven for free commerce.