'Taipei's Response To Rendition Proposal Shocking'

Executive councillor and barrister Ronny Tong said on Tuesday that it is beyond his comprehension why Taipei would reject deals under the SAR government’s planned extradition amendments.

Under the proposal, the Hong Kong government would adopt a case-by-case approach to the handing over of fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has not got an extradition agreement, including the mainland, Macau and Taiwan.

But a Taiwanese official had said Taipei would not negotiate any deals that come with a potential implications for the one-China principle.

However, speaking on RTHK's Millennium programme Tong said that he is shocked by the Taiwanese authorities’ response.

He said he had expected Taipei to welcome the proposal, noting that the proposed legal changes do not specifically state that they apply to "the central people's government or the government of any other part of the People's Republic of China".

Hong Kong officials say the changes are aimed at plugging a loophole in current laws and helping the family of a Hong Kong woman who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend in Taipei last year.

The young man came back to Hong Kong after the alleged killing, but the SAR government could not hand him over to Taiwan authorities under current laws.

Speaking after taking part in the programme, Tong described concerns that political dissidents in Hong Kong may be surrendered to the mainland under the arrangement as "irrational".

But he told RTHK's Paris Tsoi that the government's proposal is not the best solution and individual extradition deals would be better.