Hong Kong extradition bill: security chief John Lee says he expects Beijing to keep its promises on human rights safeguards
- Lee rejects calls to write protections into law, saying the mainland already follows international standards in this area
- More than 250 amendments now submitted to controversial bill on transfer of fugitives
Hong Kong’s security chief said on Sunday he was confident Beijing would keep its word and safeguard the human rights of any fugitives handed over to mainland China, even though protections would not be written into the government’s contentious extradition bill.
John Lee Ka-chiu dismissed calls from critics to embed those safeguards in the proposed legislation, which if passed would allow the transfer of criminal suspects to jurisdictions the city does not have an extradition treaty with, including the mainland.
While critics demanded those safeguards form part of the legislation, Lee insisted on Sunday the current proposal would offer greater flexibility, adding he was confident mainland authorities would stay true to their promises, even without protection clauses in the bill.
“China has signed extradition deals with 55 countries and it has no problem discharging its international responsibilities,” he told a radio programme, adding that such cross-border renditions, if they happened, would be reported by both local and mainland media.
