UK poised to suspend Hong Kong extradition treaty - British newspapers

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at Downing Street, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain, July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will on Monday suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in a further escalation of its dispute with China over the introduction of a security law in the former colony, British newspapers reported.

 

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who on Sunday accused China of "gross" human rights violations, will announce the suspension of the treaty in parliament, the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers said, citing sources.

 

Britain's foreign office declined to comment.

 

Such a move would be another nail in the coffin of what former Prime Minister David Cameron has cast as a "golden era" of ties with the world's second largest economy.

 

But London has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception that China did not tell the whole truth over the novel coronavirus outbreak.

 

Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] equipment to be purged completely from Britain's 5G network by the end of 2027.

 

China has accused Britain of pandering to the United States.

 

Earlier on Sunday, China's ambassador to Britain warned of a tough response if London attempted to sanction any of its officials, as some lawmakers in Johnson's Conservative Party have demanded.

 

"If UK government goes that far to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it," Liu Xiaoming told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

 

"You've seen what happens in the United States - they sanction Chinese officials, we sanction their senators, their officials. I do not want to see this tit-for-tat happen in... China-UK relations."

 

Raab told the same programme he would not be drawn on future additions to Britain's sanctions list but he denied that Britain would be too weak to challenge China through this channel.

 

Britain says the new national security law breaches agreements made before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, and that China is crushing the freedoms that have helped make Hong Kong one of the world's biggest financial hubs.

 

Hong Kong and Beijing officials have said the law is vital to plug holes in national security defences exposed by recent protests. China has repeatedly told Western powers to stop meddling in Hong Kong's affairs.

 

(Reporting by Andy Bruce in London and Aakriti Bhala in Bengaluru; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-20

 

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The whole world should cease trading with China.

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Disagree. Standing up to China is necessary.

Totally agree.

 

After the 1997 HK handover and China's entry to the WTO everyone thought China would evolve to look more like HK.

Exactly the opposite has happened. For 20 years the West has tried to ignore what was happening, happily exporting jobs for commercial profit, and here we are.

 

The time to have really stood up to this was 10-15 years ago, now it's going to be a whole lot tougher and painful.

 

I've lived in both China and Taiwan, and I'm now seriously worried about what's next for Taiwan

2 hours ago, bannork said:

The whole world should cease trading with China.

Exactly! Put them back in the Stone Age! They’re such bullies and they need a massive damper! 

2 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Treaty terms observed or there are no treaties worth their weight with the People’s Republic of China.

That the treaty that returned Hong Kong to its rightful owner?

18 minutes ago, Traubert said:

That the treaty that returned Hong Kong to its rightful owner?

Actually the original treaty was that Hong Kong island was ceded in perpetuity it was only the New Territories that were on a 99 year lease

Wasn’t China one of those big untapped markets that Brexiteers wanted to do trade deals with which the EU couldn’t provide? That doesn’t seem to happen. 

4 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Wasn’t China one of those big untapped markets that Brexiteers wanted to do trade deals with which the EU couldn’t provide? That doesn’t seem to happen. 

 

upsetting the Middle Kingdom rarely pays off

 

9 hours ago, Traubert said:

That the treaty that returned Hong Kong to its rightful owner?

Yes, mutually agreed to by both countries after negotiating and signed as an international treaty. It was agreed to recognize as part of China, it was agreed that there would be safeguards for Hong Kong citizens until 2047.

Quote

Dominic Raab said the UK will extend the arms embargo that applies to China to Hong Kong, and suspend our extradition treaty with Hong Kong indefinitely.

Hong Kong and China: Foreign Secretary's statement in Parliament, 20 July 2020

On 7/20/2020 at 11:53 PM, welovesundaysatspace said:

Wasn’t China one of those big untapped markets that Brexiteers wanted to do trade deals with which the EU couldn’t provide? That doesn’t seem to happen. 

 

Is it better to bow down and give up principals then? Like the spineless EU do? Pay bribes, tell lies, and ignore all violations like money grabbing German big businesses do?

On 7/21/2020 at 11:32 AM, evadgib said:

Hong Kong and China: Foreign Secretary's statement in Parliament, 20 July 2020

 

To be fair, that's not exactly a cataclysmic loss to the Chinese in real terms. Just lost face.

 

How many people have been extradited under that treaty?

20 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

To be fair, that's not exactly a cataclysmic loss to the Chinese in real terms. Just lost face.

 

How many people have been extradited under that treaty?

You are right, probably not many.

 

But it further erodes the notion that Hong Kong is special.

 

It re enforces Pompeo's statement that Hong Kong is now 'Just another Chinese city'.

 

It's a sad end to what could have been a new dawn for China after 1997.

 

I was struck by Carrie Lam at the opening of the new National Security Center. 

 

Now I speak Mandarin, but not Cantonese. Her address was made in pretty good Mandarin. If she had been talking to the people of HK it would have been in Cantonese. That speech was aimed directly to Beijing

Details of BN(0) visa announced:

Quote

The new Hong Kong BN(O) Visa will give British National (Overseas) citizens the ability to come to the UK to make a new life.

Home Secretary announces details of the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa

20 hours ago, evadgib said:

Details of BN(0) visa announced:

Home Secretary announces details of the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa

It's a welcome development.

 

It's just a pity that in 1997 the UK Government didn't give Hong Kongers the same rights to a full British passport the same as Falkland Islanders or Gibraltarians.

 

I have my own opinions on why that was, but you can make up your own minds on that