Focus On Getting Bill Passed, Not Taiwan, Says CS

The Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said on Saturday that now is not the time to get bogged down in the details of how Hong Kong can reach an extradition agreement with Taiwan.

The city's number two official says the focus should instead be on getting proposed changes to the SAR's extradition laws passed, so there's a legal basis to take things forward.

The administration has insisted that changes to the city’s extradition laws are needed so that a Hong Kong man, Chan Tong-kai, can be sent to Taiwan, where he is facing trial for allegedly killing his Hong Kong girlfriend in Taipei.

But earlier this week, the government announced tweaks to its own proposal, which is currently going through the Legislative Council.

Officials said extradition requests must come from a country’s central authorities, not provincial ones. For the mainland, this would be the central government.

However, this has prompted some to question what this will mean for any extradition deal with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a “renegade province”.

Cheung was asked if Hong Kong would, in effect, be recognising Taiwan as a country if an agreement is reached with the island.

"Let's not labour about this point at this stage," he replied. "I think the more important point is to get the bill enacted in the first place, so that we can have a legal basis to take things forward."