Ministers urged to explain plans to re-establish extraditions to Hong Kong

Independent

4 days ago

Ministers have been urged to explain plans which would once again allow Britain to extradite people to Hong Kong.
The move could put at risk dissident Hongkongers who have fled to the UK to avoid recrimination by the Chinese government, a senior Conservative warned.
Shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns urged the Government to ensure 'protections will be put in place to ensure no Hongkonger, CCP (Chinese Community Party) critic or anyone targeted by the CCP will be extradited under the new arrangement'.
The UK's extradition treaty with Hong Kong was suspended by the then-Tory government after a new national security law was imposed on the territory by China in 2020.
The treaty meant Hong Kong could request that someone living in the UK suspected of a crime at home could be handed over to face justice, and vice versa.
Fears that the law could lead to human rights abuses were behind the UK's reasoning to put the agreement on ice.
Ministers have now introduced a law change in the Commons which would tweak how Hong Kong is designated under the 2003 Extradition Act.
The statutory instrument introduced in the Commons on July 17 would effectively re-establish an extradition route with Hong Kong, as well as Zimbabwe.
It also changes how Chile is classified under the Act because the South American country has signed an international extradition treaty.
In a letter to shadow home secretary Chris Philp seen by the PA news agency, security minister Dan Jarvis suggested the change was needed as no extradition to Hong Kong can currently be made 'even if there were strong operational grounds to do so'.
Mr Jarvis added: 'The way to resolve this situation is to de-designate Hong Kong and Zimbabwe from the Act so that we can co-operate with them on the case-by-case ad hoc basis available for non-treaty partners.
'The safety and security of our citizens is our top priority.
'Ensuring that territories are correctly designated under the Act will ensure that the UK can accept extradition requests in a lawful and timely way to ensure the public is not put at risk.'
Writing in response to Mr Jarvis, shadow minister Ms Kearns questioned why the Government had taken the step, as she said the situation in Hong Kong had 'worsened' in the years since the national security law was introduced.
She pointed to the case of Jimmy Lai, the 77-year-old British national and proprietor of the Apple Daily newspaper, who is facing detention by the Chinese government, as well as other critics of Beijing.
'Has the Government assessed political freedom and the rule of law have been returned to Hong Kong, or have you decided these issues are no longer saleable alongside the 'reset' in relations between the UK and China?' Ms Kearns asked in her letter.
In a post on social media, she added: 'I urge the Government to give urgent reassurances on how this system will be safely managed and what protections will be put in place to ensure no Hong Konger, CCP critic or anyone targeted by the CCP will be extradited under the new arrangement.'
The Hong Kong national security law criminalises anything considered to be secessionist from China, and has led to a crackdown on critics of Beijing.
Some 150,000 Hongkongers have moved to the UK under a special visa scheme launched in early 2021, after the law was introduced.
Since coming to power, Labour has sought to reset relations with China with the aim of boosting trade, after the Conservatives took an increasingly hawkish attitude towards the country while they were in office.
The Home Office, which is responsible for extradition law, has been contacted for comment.