Lawmaker and legal scholar revise proposed changes to Hong Kong extradition bill in bid to ease fallout from controversial amendment

Legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun and scholar Albert Chen Hung-yee from the University of Hong Kong suggested on Friday to limit the scope of their proposed changes to the Offences against the Person Ordinance to murder and manslaughter only.

Tien, who had criticised the government for trying to bulldoze the hated bill through the legislature, had last month with Chen raised the idea of “trying Hongkongers locally” for mainland China offences to ease residents’ fears of being transferred across the border under the amended law.

The bill would have allowed for the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which the city had no extradition agreement, including the mainland. Last week, authorities suspended the legislation after huge protests and violent clashes.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah rejected the pair’s initial proposal, on the grounds it would disrupt the tradition of local courts dealing only with crimes committed in Hong Kong.