Financial Secretary Plays Down Extradition Fears

Financial Secretary Paul Chan says local businesses need not be overly concerned about the risk of extradition if lawmakers approve changes to fugitive surrender arrangements.

The government is proposing a series of changes that would allow the government to hand over fugitives to jurisdictions with which it has no formal extradition arrangement. That includes Taiwan, Macau and, most controversially, the mainland.

Business leaders, including some pro-Beijing figures such as Liberal Party honorary president James Tien, warn the changes could lead to businesspeople being sent for trial for inadvertently breaching complex mainland laws.

Chan said it was too early to speculate what the new law would mean for Hong Kong's business sector, but say safeguards will be in place.

"The justification for the extradition must be an act that is considered criminal in both Hong Kong and the jurisdiction in which this act is comitted," Chan said.

"The Hong Kong court would be a gatekeeper, and there is a full right of appeal for the individual concerned."

He said the secretary for security would seek to explain the changes further, to remove "any misunderstanding".

Commerce Secretary Edward Yau also addressed the extradition debate on Saturday, saying that he welcomed the views of society on the matter, while urging people to be open and objective.

Meanwhile Chan said Hong Kong businesses would definitely benefit from a new Foreign Investment law that's being discussed by the National People's Congress in Beijing.

Beijing says the proposed law will improve protection for international businesses and provide a level playing field. But Hong Kong delegates to the NPC have expressed concern that the draft law does not say specifically that it would apply to Hong Kong businesspeople.

Chan says local investors will definitely be able to take advantage of the new measures. He added that Hong Kong already benefitted from its Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with the mainland.