Hong Kong extradition opponents take their case to the US Congress
- Delegation warns of dire consequences and seeks immediate action to help derail extradition bill
- Testimony is part of a campaign that will include a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
A delegation of Hong Kong democracy advocates testified before a bipartisan commission in Washington on Wednesday, appealing for the US to take immediate action to help stop Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill.
Tens of thousands of Hongkongers have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the proposed legislation, which would allow residents and visitors to be extradited to territories – including mainland China and Taiwan – which now lack formal extradition agreements with Hong Kong.
Speaking at a hearing before the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which monitors Beijing’s actions on human rights and its commitment to the rule of law, the delegation warned of dire consequences the bill would bring not only to Hong Kong, but also to the US and other nations, many of which do not have extradition deals with mainland China but do with Hong Kong.
“The US has a special interest in blocking this law – and indeed may be Beijing’s special target of the law,” Martin Lee Chu-ming, a long-time pro-democracy advocate and founder of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, told the panel of US senators and House representatives.
There are 85,000 US citizens living or working in Hong Kong, which has for decades been a safe harbour for business executives, journalists, non-governmental organisations and preachers operating in greater China. If the extradition bill is passed, Lee said, that would no longer be the case.
“Beijing could extradite Americans in Hong Kong on trumped-up charges as a way to extract company trade secrets, software and other intellectual property,” he said.
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“If this extradition law is passed, Americans and many other nationalities could become potential hostages to extradition claims driven by the political agenda of Beijing.”
The delegation – comprised of Lee, student activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung, long-time journalist Mak Yin-ting and former Legislative Council member Lee Cheuk-yan – painted a picture of the bill’s chilling impact not only on the city’s political and press freedoms, but also on its free and open business environment.
Activists, journalists and business executives – or whoever has fallen into Beijing’s bad books – could be easily targeted, they contended.
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Those concerns struck a strong chord with US lawmakers at the hearing, who vowed to produce a bipartisan joint statement to protest against the extradition law in the coming weeks, if not days.
“The US and the international community should be pushing back hard against the proposed extradition amendment,” said Representative Chris Smith, Republican of New Jersey.
“It is both saddening and maddening that the government of Hong Kong – which inherited a rule-of-law system – would now be extraditing individuals to China, where justice is what is expedient to the Communist Party,” he said.
Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who is a vocal critic of China, called for Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy to be featured more prominently in negotiations between Washington and Beijing, which have been locked in talks to end their prolonged trade war.
“We have important challenges in our relationship with China, we have important disagreements on a variety of issues that I hope we can find agreement on, but the future of Hong Kong – and human rights in general – cannot be sidelined as part of those conversations,” Rubio said.
Rubio and Smith are reintroducing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which Smith has sought passage for since 2013. Among other provisions, the act would require the US Secretary of State to certify annually that Hong Kong is “sufficiently autonomous” from mainland China to justify special economic, financial and trade treatment.
Smith said in an interview that the bill would also include concerns about the extradition law.
Last week, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report criticising the extradition bill, saying that the law could provide grounds for the United States to “re-examine important elements of its current relationship with Hong Kong”.
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American policy towards Hong Kong is governed by the 1992 US-Hong Kong Policy Act, which allows the US to engage with Hong Kong as a non-sovereign entity distinct from mainland China on matters of trade and economics.
“One major concern is that the bill could allow Beijing to pressure the Hong Kong government to extradite US citizens under false pretences,” the report said.
“This could affect the estimated 85,000 US citizens and over 1,300 US firms in Hong Kong – about 300 of which base their Asia regional operations in the territory.”
Apart from Congress, the delegation has already met with Matt Pottinger, the senior White House official for Asia, on Tuesday to seek Trump administration support. It also expects to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday.
But the clock is ticking, Martin Lee said. The Hong Kong government seeks to enact the extradition law by early July, he said, and with the pro-establishment camp controlling the legislature, it could be passed easily.
Democracy advocates bring protest against extradition bill to US
“It is an uphill battle, but we can win, and reverse the downward trend in Hong Kong. We need to restore hope and encourage more people to continue fighting for their liberties” Law said at the hearing.
Law, who was elected the youngest-ever member of the Legislative Council only to be ousted, ostensibly for “improper oath-taking”, said that “I am still fighting, and confident that Hong Kong is China’s best hope for democracy”.
