'Allay Hong Kong's Fears About Mainland Courts'

A top mainland official has been quoted as saying the SAR and the central governments both need to address Hong Kong people's fears about the mainland's judicial system, by providing more explanations.

But, the head of Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Zhang Xiaoming, maintains that proposed amendments to the SAR's extradition laws – which will allow Hong Kong to strike one-off extradition deals with any jurisdiction including the mainland – are appropriate.

This was according to executive councillor, Ronny Tong, who is visiting Beijing with a delegation of his think tank, the Path of Democracy.

Tong said he had conveyed Hong Kong people's concerns over the extradition laws during a meeting with Zhang on Wednesday morning.

“During our discussion, I raised the question that in recent times, it would appear that certain sectors of Hong Kong began to question the trustworthiness of the mainland system, and the judicial system on the mainland,” Tong said.

“[Zhang] recognised that there is work to be done by both the SAR government and the central government to allay the fears of the people of Hong Kong," he said.

"But at the same time, he gave me the impression that he has the full grasp of the various arguments in relation to the amendments. And he regarded the amendments as appropriate, reasonable, and within legal principles,” the executive councillor added.

“It would appear that he is agreeable that there should be more explanation to be done to allay the fears of the people of Hong Kong,” he said.