Pompeo Raises Concern Over Extradition Law Changes

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo overnight on Thursday voiced concern over Hong Kong's plans to allow extraditions to the mainland as he met with the city's pre-eminent pro-democracy leader.

The top US diplomat discussed the controversial extradition bill during talks in Washington with a delegation headed by Martin Lee, a founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party.

Pompeo is the highest Trump administration official to wade into the row, though the US Consul General in Hong Kong, Kurt Tong, had raised concerns over the planned law changes more than once.

Pompeo "expressed concern about the Hong Kong government's proposed amendments to the Fugitive Ordinance law, which threaten Hong Kong's rule of law," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement after the meeting.

"He also expressed support for Hong Kong's longstanding protections of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic values, which are guaranteed under the Basic Law," she said.

Lee has been meeting various leaders in Washington to highlight concerns about the proposed amendments that the Hong Kong government is planning that will enable surrendering of fugitives to other jurisdictions, including the mainland.

In an opinion piece this week in The Washington Post, Lee warned that the changes in the extradition law could make Americans and other foreigners "potential hostages to extradition claims driven by the political agenda of Beijing".

"The time for the world to act to protect Hong Kong's free society and legal system is now – not when Hong Kong people and others are taken to be jailed in China," he wrote.

A recent report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an advisory body set up by the US Congress, warned that the extradition bill posed "serious" security risks to the estimated 85,000 US citizens in Hong Kong. (AFP)