I was right about Hong Kong being the hot spot but I didn't know what would set it off.
Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm
The extradition law change was probably originally Carrie Lam's idea. She's the formerly well respected chief executive of Hong Kong. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) originally probably thought it was a fine idea.
Lam introduced the legislation because of the following,
The most immediate cause was a gruesome case involving a teenage Hong Konger, Chan Tong-kai, who murdered his pregnant girlfriend during a trip to Taiwan in 2018 and dumped her body in in a suitcase before fleeing back to Hong Kong. Chan has since admitted to the killing in a Hong Kong court, but because Hong Kong has no pre-existing extradition agreement with Taiwan, he cannot be sent to face trial for murder there. And since Hong Kong courts have no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Taiwan, Chan can’t be tried for murder here either. He has pleaded guilty to money-laundering in relation to using his girlfriend’s ATM card on his return and was sentenced to 29 months in prison.
https://qz.com/1635504/everything-yo...tradition-law/
The legislation would not only have made extradition by the PRC possible, but also many other countries in the world, including Taiwan where Chan killed his pregnant girlfriend. Right now Hong Kong only has 20 extradition treaties with other countries, although it also has legal cooperation agreements with 32 others. But I believe right now Hong Kong law specifically prohibits extradition to the PRC, and the legislation would change that.
As you probably know, Lam and the government have suspended introduction of the new legislation. Hong Kong tycoons were starting to move assets to Singapore and other places and were against this. And I suspect, because of legislation introduced by Republicans to eliminate certain trade benefits Hong Kong has with the USA, the PRC also is against it now. Supposedly the PRC can use Hong Kong as a back door to import products from the USA that it could not otherwise import, and perhaps now as a way to export goods indirectly without 25% tariffs. The Republicans' legislation would shut this down, if passed. Besides, the lack of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong hasn't stopped the PRC in the past. Once in a while they'll kidnap someone in Hong Kong and spirit him across the border.
It's very possible that Lam is the reason this legislation is now just suspended instead of being withdrawn. She's said to be very hard headed, and is passionate about this issue.