Hundreds of Thousands of people protest in Hong Kong over China extradition Bill
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have taken to the streets in Hong Kong today, i.e., Sunday, June 9, 2019, expressing their anger against the new extradition bill, which allows crime suspects to be sent to Mainland China for Court trial.
More than 5,00,000 protesters, dressed in white, joined the movement, chanting slogans like, “No China extradition, no evil law”, “Carry off Carrie”. The protestors carried yellow umbrellas, which became the symbol of passive resistance during 2014 protest, where people demanded more transparent elections from China.
After gathering at Victoria Park, the protestors slowly made their way through the Causeway Bay and Wanchai shopping and residential districts to Hong Kong’s Parliament, where the matter will be taken up on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.
People from all walks of like such as businessmen, politicians, students, youth, service class and religious groups joined the march. The public believes that the new law will subject them to the deeply flawed justice system of People’s Republic of China and would also make a dent in the judicial independence of Hong Kong.
The Government, on the other hand, believes that the bill has built-in protections and will fix the loopholes. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong – Carrie Lam wants the amendments to be passed before July 2019.
A legislative councillor in Hong Kong – Claudia Mo said, “Nobody trusts the mainland government, how can people feel they would get a fair trial in the mainland. There is no due process there, and it means that people can just be whisked away across the border to face a biased court system.”
The political history of Hong Kong
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after Qing China, the last imperial dynasty of China, ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898.
After the expiry of the lease term, the territory was later returned to China in 1997. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China. The people of Hong Kong identify themselves as ‘Hongkongers’ and not ‘Chinese’.
What does the new bill say?
The new bill will allow China, Taiwan and Macau to place extradition request for suspects accused of criminal wrongdoings. The requests will then be decided on a case-by-case basis. However, Hong Kong Courts will have the final say over whether to grant such extradition requests.
The Hong Kong Government has assured its people that the new law will apply to absconders and will carry a maximum punishment of 7 years in prison.
Why is the bill needed?
In February 2018, a 19-year-old Hong Kong man allegedly murdered his 20-year pregnant girlfriend while they were on a holiday in Taiwan. The accused then returned to Hong Kong. Taiwan approached Hong Kong and made a request for extradition of thee accused. But Hong Kong could not comply with the request as it does not have an extradition agreement with Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s extradition agreements
Hong Kong has extradition agreements with 20 countries. This includes the Unites States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (U.K.). However, it has no such agreement with the People’s Republic of China. There have been several negotiations between Hong Kong and China in the past 20 years, but nothing has yet been finalised.
