CS Says 'some' Foreign Businesses Back Extradition

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung says he has managed to convince 'some' foreign businesses to back the government's contentious plans to amend Hong Kong's extradition laws, during meetings last week to assuage widespread concerns about the bill.

The international business community has been among the most vocal opponents of the planned extradition law changes, which would allow the transfer of fugitives to places with which Hong Kong has no extradition agreement, like the Mainland, Macau and Taiwan. Organisations like the American Chamber of Commerce have warned that this could hit Hong Kong's reputation as a business hub, while many foreign governments, legal experts, journalists and activists are worried that Beijing could abuse the arrangement to target political enemies.

But Cheung reiterated in his blog that there'll be ample oversight by local courts, and people's rights will be protected. He said as part of the government's campaign to dispel 'unnecessary' fears, he held 'in-depth' and 'candid' meetings with foreign business chambers. Afterwards, he said some participants had stated that they now support the legal changes, and think the amendment is a 'demonstration' of the rule of law in Hong Kong. However, he gave no specifics.

Despite this apparent turnaround, there remains much opposition to the move. Eleven representatives of the European Union lodged a formal protest against the bill directly to the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, on Friday. However, she has said they didn't highlight any specific concerns, and Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, says it was 'unreasonable' for the EU officials to have issued the diplomatic note. He told reporters he thinks they have been misled by the United States over the matter, and that Washington is trying to use the controversy to undermine China amid the Sino-US trade dispute.