Name: China halts Hong Kong extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and UK
Brand: theguardian.com
SKU: theguardian-com-980
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

China halts Hong Kong extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and UK

preview

This article is more than 2 years oldThis article is more than 2 years oldTit-for-tat move follows measures by Ottawa, Canberra and London over new security lawFirst published on Tue 28 Jul 2020 04.52 EDTChina has suspended ’s extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, and the UK, in a tit-for-tat move after similar decisions by those countries over its controversial new security law.On Tuesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said was suspending criminal assistance agreements, including extradition, accusing those countries of “politicising judicial cooperation”. Canada, Australia and the UK cancelled extradition agreements with the semi-autonomous territory after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that critics fear will be used against government critics.“China has decided to suspend extradition treaties between Hong Kong and Canada, Australia and UK, as well as criminal justice cooperation agreements,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing, accusing the countries of having used the national security law as “an excuse to unilaterally announce the suspension of extradition treaties” with Hong Kong.“The wrong action of Canada, Australia and the UK in politicising judicial cooperation with Hong Kong has seriously hurt the basis of judicial cooperation,” he said.A spokesman for the Hong Kong government echoed Beijing’s remarks, calling the measures “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs and a grave violation of international law and basic norms”.Western nations have angered Beijing over their responses to the law imposed on Hong Kong, which they see as an erosion of the civil liberties and human rights the city has enjoyed since its handover from Britain in 1997.The US has decided to rescind Hong Kong’s special trading privileges while Washington’s “Five Eyes” intelligence partners have suspended their extradition treaties with the city, with New Zealand on Tuesday joining Canada, Britain and Australia. The United States has signalled it is preparing to do the same.On Tuesday, the European Union began limiting technology exports to Hong Kong that may be used for repression or suppression. The EU agreed on Friday to sanctions, trade curbs and review of visa agreements with the territory as a response to the security law. The document went into effect on Tuesday.China has defended the security law as crucial to restoring order in Hong Kong following a wave of pro-democracy protests since last year.Britain suspended its extradition treaty last week, following moves by Australia and Canada, saying the security law had “significantly changed key assumptions” including a provision to try certain cases in mainland China.London and Canberra have also angered Beijing by offering pathways to citizenship or residency to Hongkongers looking to leave because of the new law.New Zealand’s updated travel advice said the security law had led to an increased risk of arrest for activities such as protests, with the possibility of being removed to mainland China to face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.Wang warned on Tuesday that China reserved the right to respond after New Zealand suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.“Any schemes to suppress China will never prevail,” Wang said. “China urges New Zealand to immediately redress its mistake, and stop all forms of interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs, to avoid harming China-New Zealand relations.”

This article is more than 2 years oldThis article is more than 2 years oldTit-for-tat move follows measures by Ottawa, Canberra and London over new security lawFirst published on Tue 28 Jul 2020 04.52 EDTChina has suspended ’s extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, and the UK, in a tit-for-tat move after similar decisions by those countries over its controversial new security law.On Tuesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said was suspending criminal assistance agreements, including extradition, accusing those countries of “politicising judicial cooperation”. Canada, Australia...

public

Lily Kuo

TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and Guardian Unlimited, is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers The Guardian and The Observer, as well as a substantial body of web-only work produced by its own staff, including a rolling news service.

China halts Hong Kong extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and UK

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS