Thousands March Against Extradition Law Changes

Thousands of people turned out on Sunday to protest against the proposed changes to extradition laws, which could see people sent for trial on the mainland.

Organisers said 12,000 marched from Wan Chai to government headquarters in Admiralty, while police said over 5,000 took part.

The government wants to be able to surrender suspects on a one-off basis to jurisdictions not currently covered by Hong Kong law.

The Chief Executive Carrie Lam has cited the case of Hong Kong man, Chan Tong-kai, who is wanted by Taiwan for allegedly murdering his pregnant girlfriend there last February as one of the main reasons for the planned change. He is currently on remand here and cannot be extradited to Taiwan as there is no extradition agreement, or procedure, in place.

Organisers of the march, which include the Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy lawmakers, say the planned changes will affect everyone in Hong Kong. They cite cases of mainland human rights activists being detained, or disappearing, on the mainland. They say similar incidents could happen to people here once the law is passed.

The planned law change has also caused uproar in the business community. They say they are worried about arbitrary charges, possibly used to solve business disputes.

In response, the government has dropped nine types of white-collar crimes that were to be covered by the law. And on Saturday the Security Secretary, John Lee said only high-level mainland authorities, such as the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, would be able to make an extradition request to Hong Kong.