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To Ignore Hong Kongers’ Fury Is Tantamount to “Burying One Country, Two Systems"

icon2019/06/18
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 To Ignore Hong Kongers’ Fury Is Tantamount to “Burying One Country, Two Systems"

 

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

June 13, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

The Hong Kong government has been pushing for the revision of the “Fugitive Offenders Ordinance”, dubbed "Extraditing to the Mainland Statute", touching on the sensitive nerves of Hong Kong people, eliciting what has been billed as million people going to the streets for demonstrations. Under the framework of one country, two systems, after the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong has had an independent judiciary and court of final appeal. In accordance with the existing Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, Hong Kong does extradite fugitives, but does not include Mainland China, Macau or Taiwan. Last year, a Hong Kong male named Chan Tung-kai was charged with murdering his Hong Kong girlfriend in Taiwan, and then fled back to Hong Kong; the Hong Kong government could not hand over the suspect to Taiwan for investigation. The Hong Kong government subsequently pushed for revising the law in order to close the loophole in the law, permitting fugitives who have committed 37 crimes to be transferred to Taiwan, the Mainland and Macau, as well as allowing the freezing of their assets in Hong Kong.

Despite the fact that the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance" specifically stipulates that only "specific felons" may be transferred and excludes suspects in political cases, it has failed to dispel the doubts of Hong Kong people. After the "anti-extradition to the Mainland" big demonstration, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam verbally pledged that the government would not be above the law, but her attitude remained hardened. The people of Hong Kong, however, are worried that on account of different systems, the words and deeds that are protected in Hong Kong, Taiwan or other countries may nevertheless violate the laws of the Mainland. Especially, even if political cases, such as freedom of speech, are not among those "extraditable" to the Mainland, considering the PRC’s political and judicial records, if it truly wanted to arrest and repatriate, how could the Hong Kong government have the capacity to resist?

We want to remind the Hong Kong government: Don’t look at Beijing, while railroading the legislative action by remaining oblivious to Hong Kongers’ fury. Amidst the US-China trade war, this approach would only cause the Mainland to lose more international sympathy and support. In particular, earlier this year, Xi Jinping launched a psychological warfare offensive on “exploring the Taiwan program for one country, two systems”, which elicited an unfavorable response in Taiwan; the principal reason being the PRC’s pledges under "one country, two systems" to Hong Kong after its return to Mainland China in 1997 have not been fully carried out; Hong Kong’s autonomy has been oppressed, with one country, two systems becoming a bad name. If the Hong Kong government and Beijing should join hands in suppressing the expectations for autonomy of the people of Hong Kong through, once again, amending the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance"the result could conversely end up "burying the one country, two systems."

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