Unseating James To From Extradition Panel 'legal'

House Committee chairwoman Starry Lee on Wednesday defended an attempt by the pro-establishment camp to seize control of a Legco committee that will scrutinise highly-contentious proposals to amend the extradition bill, calling it a ‘conservative’ and ‘legal’ move.

To has presided over two acrimonious meetings of the bills committee which were both filibustered by the pan-democrats, delaying the selection of a committee chairman and holding up discussions of proposed legal changes that would enable Hong Kong to surrender fugitives on a case-by-case basis, to jurisdictions with which it does not have a formal extradition agreement.

Pro-government legislators then demanded the removal of To – who had presided over the meetings as the most senior legislator – and to replace him with the most experienced pro-establishment councillor, Abraham Shek.

Lee agreed to hold a special meeting on Saturday to discuss the matter.

To has questioned whether the House Committee has the authority to order such a change, suggesting that doing so would bring into question the legality of the panel’s work.

On Wednesday, he also warned that replacing him would spark a public backlash, insisting that he has been fair and impartial in chairing the meetings.

“I have confidence that the public will support my handling of the meetings,” he said, adding that people will be angry if he is “unfairly” unseated, and that they would not trust either the government or pro-establishment legislators going forward.

But Lee countered that the House Committee has full authority to direct how the bills committee conducts its business.

“According to the rules of procedures, we have the power to issue guidelines, and I cannot see why the bills committee would not follow the guidelines made by the house committee”, she said.

Lee warned of possible ‘chaos’ if a house committee directive is not followed, and added that the proposal to replace To with Shek is ‘conservative’ when compared with other options that the pro-government camp has been pushing for – such as bypassing the committee entirely and putting the bill directly to the full council.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam had spoken of the urgent need for Legco to approve the legal change to allow the transfer of a Hong Kong man suspected of murder to Taiwan.

Chan Tong-kai, 20, has admitted under police caution to killing his pregnant girlfriend in Taipei, but cannot legally be tried for the killing. On Monday, he was sentenced to 29 months in prison for stealing his dead girlfriend’s money and valuables, but can walk free as early as October under parole rules.

However, critics are worried the proposed legal change may open the door for mainland authorities to target its political enemies here, and prompted an estimated 130,000 people to take to the streets on Sunday against the move.

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