Political systems Protest against the extradition bill in Hong Kong
Most people in the social media are supportive of the protest put up by the people of Hong Kong against the extradition bill. 

They claimed that 1 million people joined the protest. However, the Hong Kong police put the number as 250,000. Still, it is a very large number.

I read that the bill is to allow extradition of fugitives to Mainland China and elsewhere in the world. The extradition law follow international norms. If a person commits a crime in another country and seeks refuge in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong authorities has the power to send the fugitive back for trial in the country where the alleged offense was committed.

This seemed to be a reasonable law. Why is there a strong protest. 

The fear is about the justice system in China. Many people holds the view that the courts in China acts arbitrarily and non-transparently and harshly against critics of the communist system.

Is this perception true? Is it fair?

China has changed a lot over the past thirty years. I like to think that their rule of law and justice system would have changed for the better during this period. However, I do not have any hard evidence to back up my trust. Maybe, I should look at the rating of some human rights NGOs?

Let me share some of the reasons why I hold a more positive view of the court system in China.

a) The court system now applies to 1.4 billion citizens in China. They have come to accept it as something that they can live with. If this was not the case, many people would have migrated out of China.

b) Each year, nearly 100 million people visited China (including Hong Kong and Macau) as tourists. China is the largest tourist destination in the world. Why do this large number of people willing expose themselves to the risk of being subject to the China courts for any offense that they are alleged to commit in China?

I like to think that China is no long the repressive and oppressive country that it probably was several decades earlier.

Now I revert to the extradition bill in Hong Kong. If the law is passed, does it mean that people who criticized China will be sent back to the mainland to face the courts there?

I believe that there are adequate safeguards:

a) The China government must make a request for extradition
b) The request will have to be considered and approved by the Hong Kong courts. This may take a long time to issue.

We have seen the case of the US government requesting for the extradition of the CFO of Huawei to face the courts in the US. The case has dragged on for more than a year. 

I think that the protestors in Hong Kong probably have some real concerns that I may be unaware of.

I agree that the Hong Kong legislature should not pass the law until these concerns are heard.

Tan Kin Lian



 

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