Pan-Dems To Protest Over Special Committee Meeting

Pro-democracy lawmakers and their supporters plan to rally outside the Legislative Council building on Saturday during a special meeting of the House Committee. The meeting could unseat the Democratic Party's James To from presiding over a bills committee that is looking into the controversial extradition law. The bills committee panel has so far been unable to elect a chairman after two meetings.

The pan-democrats have accused the pro-establishment camp of abusing its majority in the legislature.

"What we really care about is how Hong Kong people feel," said Council Front lawmaker Claudia Mo of the pro-democracy camp. "Their realisation that this proposed law is very evil. This is probably the last straw of Hong Kong's One Country, Two Systems."

Friday's House Committee meeting ended in chaos after its chairwoman, Starry Lee of the pro-establishment DAB, tried to throw out Mo after a verbal clash. The meeting had begun with opposition legislators criticising Lee for hastily arranging Saturday's meeting.

If passed, the government's proposed amendments to the extradition law would allow suspects to be sent for trial in jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no extradition agreement, but only on a case by case basis. These include the mainland, Macau and Taiwan.

Critics say it will allow activists and foreign nationals to be sent to the mainland for trial. Supporters say there are sufficient checks in place and point to a case where a Hong Kong man is wanted in Taiwan for allegedly murdering his girlfriend.