Carrie Lam assures Hong Kong business leaders that plan to extradite people to mainland China will not undermine commerce
- Proposed legal tweak ‘should not be seen as impeding business freedom’, Lam says
- Security minister denies any decision has been made on cutting the list of offences people could be extradited for
Hong Kong’s leader on Thursday assured members of the city’s business elite that a plan to allow extraditions to mainland China would not undermine their work in the city, against mounting criticism from local and foreign trade groups.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s remarks came as the city’s security chief downplayed reports that the government intended to water down the proposal by removing 10 white-collar crimes from the list of extraditable offences, stressing there was no final decision on that front.
But Lam said the plan “should not be seen as impeding business freedom or undermining the business environment”.
Give Hong Kong more leeway to end mistrust, leading Chinese scholar says
“I would say quite the opposite. Because we don’t want Hong Kong to become a haven for fugitive offenders,” she said.
While not commenting on whether the government would revise the plan to reflect the business sector’s concerns, Lam stressed: “We are doing this with a very good purpose, and if there are concerns it is obligatory for the government to address those concerns.”
She insisted the change was initiated by the Hong Kong government, rather than being decreed by Beijing.
Her administration has faced calls from the American Chamber of Commerce, several local business chambers and two business-friendly parties to narrow the list of offences which could get someone extradited, or exempt white-collar crimes from it.
Dennis Ng Wang-pun, president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association, said after a meeting with Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday that Lee would study whether 15 white-collar crimes could be removed from the list.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching, citing unnamed business sources, also claimed the government was giving some thought to excluding 10 economic crimes from the list.
The government should be pragmatic in upholding justice while addressing concerns from society when drafting the bill
But on Thursday Lee insisted no decision had been made on possible removals from the list.
“I appreciate that during the exchange [with business representatives], there could be different understandings or interpretations, or even speculative thoughts. This is only normal,” Lee told reporters.
“But I can definitely tell everyone that as of today I have not made any final decision, and I’m still working with my colleagues in the Security Bureau and Department of Justice on details to various views put forth.”
He stressed that the 46 types of extraditable offence had been in place for more than 22 years and operated well in transfer agreements the city has with 20 countries.
The full list includes all common criminal sanctions from murder, sex crimes and computer hacking to typical corporate crimes such as corruption and money laundering.
Lee’s bureau has passed leaflets to businesses, listing 14 safeguards in the existing law for fugitives. The safeguards include barring extradition requests of a political nature and requests from jurisdictions which will hand the suspect over to a third jurisdiction.
Two local professional legal bodies, the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Law Society, have separately urged the government to allow overseas murder cases with Hong Kong suspects or victims to be tried locally. That was endorsed by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.
Local business also continued to press the government to narrow the proposal. The Business and Professionals Alliance, the second-largest party in the legislature with eight seats, said there was precedent for excluding certain kinds of offence.
“The government should be pragmatic in upholding justice while addressing concerns from society when drafting the bill,” party chairman Lo Wai-kwok said.
The party also urged the government to explain the ambit of each extraditable offence, and whether the legal amendment would apply retroactively.
“The government needs to explain more clearly each of the 46 offences, and what would amount to a serious criminal act that triggers an extradition,” Lo, who represents the engineering sector in the legislature, added.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Dennis Kwok, one of three local pro-democracy politicians visiting Washington at the invitation of the White House, said he had met the American Bar Association, which expressed concerns over the proposed amendments and the effects on Hongkongers, foreigners in the city and the commercial sector.
During their 10-day visit, Kwok, former No 2 official-turned-government critic Anson Chan Fang On-sang and lawmaker Charles Mok will meet various officials to discuss Hong Kong’s political, social and economic situation, which may have implications for the city’s special trading status with the United States.
