New US Commission Report Makes Flawed Assessments on HK For
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CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | 7 COMMENT HK TO THE POINT New US commission report STAFF WRITER Sincerity needed from the opposition makes flawed assessments People who thought members of judicial system and trying to drive a the opposition camp were just using wedge between Hong Kong residents another delaying tactic to foil the gov- and the central government. ernment’s proposed extradition law This has also made people cynical amendment could be excused for being about the opposition’s plan to have a tri- on HK for political reasons skeptical. But they were right to have partite meeting on the rendition issue. doubts after scrutinizing some opposi- Some believe the opposition only fl oated tion lawmakers’ remarks on their new this idea after it was suggested that the proposal to hold a tripartite meeting on bill be tabled for scrutiny by the full Grenville Cross explains how the report has come to the rendition amendment bill with the Legislative Council, therefore bypass- pro-establishment camp and govern- ing the bills committee which has been inaccurate, biased conclusions on the consequences of ment o cials. hijacked by Democratic Party lawmaker “The ball is now in the government’s James To Kun-sun and his opposition proposed changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance court,” Claudia Mo Man-ching, convener colleagues. It is not unreasonable to of the “pro-democracy” camp, said on believe that opposition lawmakers are n 2000, the US-China Eco- who welcomed them. She eagerly rolled Tuesday. just trying to preempt a humiliating nomic and Security Review out the red carpet, hoping they would put If Mo was serious, she has shown defeat in a full LegCo meeting — where Commission was established the boot into Hong Kong, and they did just how easy it is for the opposition to they are the underdogs. by the US Congress. Its man- not disappoint. According to Kwok, one throw a political ball into the govern- To show their sincerity, James To date is to monitor, investigate of the “key issues” they discussed was the ment’s court. But to convince people must also refrain from asserting “his and submit to Congress an government’s fugitive o ender plans, with it was not just another delaying tactic chairmanship” of the bills committee annual report on the national Grenville Cross Pelosi expressing “deep concern”. This, of (in order to pass responsibility for the responsible for vetting the extradition security implications of the bilateral trade The author is a senior counsel, a law course, should have surprised nobody, as impasse over the extradition amend- law amendment bill. He must stop hold- Iand economic partnership between the professor and criminal justice analyst, the trio, while happy to savage the propos- ment bill to the executive branch of ing further “bills committee meetings” US and China. It is also required, where and was previously the director of pub- als, suppressed the positives. the government) the opposition camp without pro-establishment lawmakers. lic prosecutions. appropriate, to make recommendations In consequence, the commission’s brief — particularly its legislators — must After all, his “chairmanship” has no to Congress for legislative and administra- The commission’s brief, disregards the international safeguards demonstrate their sincerity in resolving legitimacy; it was merely assigned to tive action. which underpin the security bureau’s the dispute. him by his opposition colleagues in the Although the commission’s terms of however, is not concerned proposals, particularly regarding non- Demanding things such as “no dead- absence of pro-establishment committee reference do not specifi cally require it to extradition for political o enses, or for lines” to settle the confl ict and insisting members who constitute the majority of base its assessments on objective analyses, with the 174 countries, death penalty cases. Nor does it mention on shelving or retracting the rendition the bills committee. the Congress presumably expects no less. but only with the Chinese that surrender will be refused if the true amendment bill defi nitely won’t help. If members of the opposition insist The Congress also hopefully looks to the purpose of the request is to persecute Nor will insulting government o cials on derailing the extradition amendment commission to examine issues compre- mainland, which exposes someone for his or her race, religion, — particularly Chief Executive Carrie bill, rather than seeking refi nements to hensively, and without partiality. If so, nationality or political opinions. The close Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor — with abrasive provisions, any tripartite meetings will the commission, in its latest “USCC Issue its anti-China mindset. judicial scrutiny of the whole process, language, disparaging the mainland’s just be a waste of time. Brief”, compiled by sta er Ethan Meick, a including rights of appeal, is likewise policy analyst, has fallen down on the job. fugitives they sent back were not treated disregarded. Since the trio explained The proposed amendments to the as agreed. This shows that commitments, none of these things clearly to Pelosi, it is Fugitive O enders Ordinance will enable once made, are honored, which has always unsurprising that she, in turn, was in no fugitives in Hong Kong to be returned, been China’s way. position to brief Bartholomew properly, on a case-by-case basis, to other jurisdic- The US, moreover, although it does before she signed o on Meick’s brief. Take the fi rst step toward tions for trial. Since Hong Kong currently not have an extradition treaty with the This is a great pity, because it means has no fugitive surrender arrangements Chinese mainland, has nonetheless sent that Congress has received an inaccurate in place with the other parts of China, or several fugitives back for trial, and they, briefi ng. It is also alarming, because the with 174 countries around the world, it has as the parties agreed, were treated appro- brief asserts that, if the fugitive o ender reconciliation and dialogue become a sanctuary for criminals, some- priately. In 2005, for example, when Yu proposals are enacted, the US may have to thing which no self-respecting jurisdiction Zhendong was returned from Las Vegas to “reexamine important elements of its cur- he recent dramas in the Legisla- can be expected to tolerate. Beijing, on embezzlement charges, the US rent relationship with Hong Kong”. This tive Council, especially that last However, the commission’s brief con- was given assurances as to his treatment could mean the suspension or even revo- Saturday, on which date two demns the proposals, conjuring up far- and sentencing, and these were honored. cation of the US-Hong Kong Policy Act, meetings convened respectively fetched scenarios. With its imagination in Again, in 2015, when Yang Yinjun was sent under which Hong Kong is treated di er- Tby the pro-establishment camp and by the overdrive, it even suggests that US Navy back to face bribery charges, Washington ently from the mainland in trading mat- “pan-democrats” were to be held in the same personnel on recreational visits to Hong was happy to help Beijing’s “Sky Net” anti- ters. This, of course, might damage Hong meeting room at about the same time, are Ho Lok-sang Kong could fi nd themselves being extra- corruption initiative, subject only to basic Kong commercial interests, as Chan’s trio a worrying development. A brawl between The author is the dean of business at Chu dited to the mainland, and that they may guarantees, which were duly given. must have known when they set Pelosi up. the two camps led to one legislator taken Hai College of Higher Education. therefore need to stop coming here. If it Quite clearly, as the commission must The commission’s brief, moreover, away on a stretcher bed and several others really believes that, perhaps the commis- know, the US itself would never tolerate a provides another fascinating insight claiming minor injury. No meeting was suc- Demanding the retraction of the bill will end sion should also warn US sailors to keep situation in which a fugitive could evade into its thinking. In 2017, Hong Kong cessfully held or completed. Another meeting any meaningful dialogue. On the other hand, away from Seoul, since South Korea has justice by simply moving from one part declined a US extradition request for scheduled Tuesday also ended in chaos. proposing and demanding such mechanisms an extradition agreement with China. of the country to another. The notion that an alleged hacker, and this clearly still The incident came on the back of a prior that will ensure no abuse of the extradition The commission’s brief, however, is not a criminal could commit an o ense in, rankles. Although the commission claims meeting held exclusively among the “pan- law will make a dialogue possible. Carrie concerned with the 174 countries, but only for example, Arizona, and then claim safe that the case raised “questions regard- democrats” which was declared illegal by the Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had a point when with the Chinese mainland, which exposes haven in, say, Texas, would strike most ing the Hong Kong authorities’ ability to pro-establishment camp and which the “pan- she said that a private meeting to persuade its anti-China mindset. Meick claims that Americans as abhorrent, and the extradi- uphold legal commitments to the US”, the democrats” claimed had successfully elected her to shelve the proposed amendment bill the proposals “could allow Beijing to pres- tion clause in the US constitution seeks to US-Hong Kong fugitive surrender agree- James To Kun-sun to preside over the debate would be futile. sure the Hong Kong government to extra- avoid this ever happening.