Tycoon Joseph Lau Drops Extradition Law Challenge

Property tycoon Joseph Lau has dropped his legal challenge over the government's planned new extradition laws, his lawyers said on Wednesday, with a statement saying Lau loves his country and hopes the move will help heal divisions in society.

Lau had applied for a judicial review over the extradition plans, saying he feared he could be surrendered to Macau where he was sentenced, in absentia, in 2014 to more than five years in prison for bribery.

The statement from the billionaire's lawyers says Lau is "deeply saddened by various arguments and discords appearing in society" and he is abandoning his court fight in the hope that it will reduce these disputes.

"It may also mean Mr Lau has proffered his personal contribution," the statement says.

It adds that Lau loves his country and Hong Kong and always supports the government in administering the SAR according to law. The legal action was not targeted at the authorities, the statement says.

The former chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings was originally hoping to convince the High Court that removing Hong Kong's current ban on extraditions to the mainland, Taiwan or Macau would contravene Article 38 of the Basic Law.

He recently claimed to have "exiled himself" from the SAR over his fears that he would be handed over to Macau to serve his prison term once the legislation is passed by the Legislative Council.