Mainland Courts Not Reason For 1997 Exclusion: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam triggered a fiery showdown with opposition lawmakers during her latest question and answer session in Legco on Thursday when she rubbished suggestions that the mainland was deliberately excluded from Hong Kong’s law governing the transfer of fugitives to other jurisdictions, when it was enacted in 1997.

The Bar Association, legal experts, and foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom all say that the mainland was deliberately excluded from the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance over fears about the fairness of its judicial system, and concerns over whether fundamental rights of suspects would be adequately protected.

But addressing a question from Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung, Lam said claims that the laws were drafted to prevent offenders from being transferred to the mainland were “nonsense".

"That wasn't done deliberately. It was not because of the case that some people were scared of the legal system of the mainland. In the liaison committee [for the Hong Kong handover in 1997], some people said well, that would affect the handover. I think they are all nonsense. You may refer to the files of the Legco," she said.

This was immediately challenged by the convener of the pan-democrats, Claudia Mo, who called Lam a liar. This then lead to a confrontation between Mo and Legco president Andrew Leung, who demanded her to withdraw the charge. Mo was later kicked out when she refused.

But other opposition members continued to challenge Lam over the government’s contentious proposal to change the law to allow the transfer of fugitives to the mainland, and other places with which Hong Kong has no formal extradition agreement.

Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai accused the Chief Executive of removing a protective firewall that the people of Hong Kong want.

"You were born in Hong Kong, bred in Hong Kong, educated in Hong Kong. You became a senior official in Hong Kong. Surely you must know that we have to have One Country, Two System as Hong Kong people are afraid of the Communist Party," he said.

Wu went on to accuse Lam of doing “more harm” than two of her predecessors, Tung Chee-hwa and CY Leung

The CE rejected his charges and said she had always upheld the One Country, Two Systems principle.

Wu ended up being kicked out of the meeting for interrupting Lam. He was apoplectic as he was escorted out by security, shouting "You bald-faced liar! Why don't you die? You're a waste of life, b***h!" Several other pan-democrats were also ejected for shouting, or interrupting the proceedings.

Meantime, Lam stood firm on her arguments about the bill and said a Democratic Party member who headed the 1997 bills committee then had actually called for speedy work on a treaty on extradition with the mainland. She did not name the Democratic Party member.

The Chief Executive also quoted from articles written by former director of public prosecutions, Grenville Cross, to back her claims about the need for the amendments.