US State Department and UK’s Asia minister express support for Hongkongers protesting extradition bill

The US State Department and the UK’s minister for Asia and Pacific spoke out on Monday in support of the record crowds of Hongkongers who took to the streets over the weekend to protest proposed legislative amendments that would allow extraditions to mainland China.

Expressing the US government’s “grave concern” about the proposed changes to the law, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus stopped short of calling on the Hong Kong government to entirely roll back the plan but said “any amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance should be pursued with great care”.

“The peaceful demonstration of hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers yesterday clearly shows the public’s opposition to the proposed amendments,” said Ortagus, speaking at a regular press briefing.

In a show of global solidarity, Sunday’s protests in Hong Kong, which organisers said drew more than one million people, took place alongside demonstrations around the world, in cities including New York, Vancouver, Melbourne and Tokyo.

The US statement came as Mark Field, the UK’s minister for Asia and the Pacific, spoke of a potential “chilling effect” on Hong Kong’s rights and freedom.

He said the protest march “was a clear demonstration of the strength of feeling in Hong Kong”.

“Many fear above all that Hong Kong nationals and residents risk being pulled into China’s legal system, which can involve lengthy pre-trial detentions, televised confessions and an absence of many of the judicial safeguards that we see in Hong Kong and in the UK,” Field said.

Field was responding to a question Monday in the House of Commons from Labour MP Catherine West about the extradition bill’s impact on the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

“We shall continue to stress to the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities that for confidence in the ‘one country, two systems’ policy to be maintained, Hong Kong must enjoy the full measure of its high degree of autonomy and rule of law as set out in the joint declaration and enshrined in the Basic Law,” Field said.

On May 30, the British and Canadian foreign ministers issued a joint statement expressing concern about the potential impact of the proposals on its citizens as well as “business confidence and on Hong Kong’s international reputation”.

In the US government’s most strongly worded critique of the amendments yet, Ortagus said Washington shared the concerns of many Hongkongers that “the lack of procedural protections in the proposed amendments could undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and negatively impact the territory’s long-standing protections of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic values as enshrined in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration”.

The State Department called on Hong Kong’s leaders to consult fully with “a broad range of local and international stakeholders who may be affected by the amendments”.

“We shall […] continue to stress to the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities that for confidence in the ‘One country, two systems’ to be maintained, Hong Kong must enjoy the full measure of the high degree of autonomy and rule of law as set out in both the Joint Declaration and enshrined in basic law.”

Earlier on Monday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam vowed to push ahead with the extradition bill, saying that delaying the amendments would only lead to “more anxiety and divisiveness in society”.

Why did Hongkongers join million-strong protest march? It’s in their DNA

Beijing has spoken out in “resolute support” of the proposed changes to the city’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and pushed back against criticism from foreign governments.

“We resolutely oppose wrong words and actions by any foreign forces to interfere in the legislative matters of the Hong Kong SAR,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said earlier on Monday, referring to the city’s “special administrative region” designation.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Geng said that China was “not worried about the impact on the business environment”.

Such statements have failed to assuage concerns in Washington.

In what is believed to be the first time a US government official has expressed concern over the amendments’ implications for Americans, Ortagus said on Monday that “the amendments could damage Hong Kong’s business environment and subject our citizens residing in or visiting Hong Kong to China’s capricious judicial system”.

“The continued erosion of the one country, two systems framework puts at risk Hong Kong’s long-established special status in international affairs,” she said.

If passed, the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance would surely be a focus for the State Department’s next assessment of Hong Kong’s autonomy, which the US government uses to decide whether to maintain special trade and economic relations with the city. 

This year’s Hong Kong Policy Act Report, as the review is called, found that the city exhibited a sufficient – “although diminished” – degree of autonomy to warrant the continuation of its special trade status.

Additional reporting by Nectar Gan in Washington