UK signals it will suspend extradition treaty with Hong Kong

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The UK’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab is expected to suspend the country’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong on Monday over China’s moves against the city-state.

The extradition treaty means that, if someone in Hong Kong is suspected of a crime in the UK, then the British authorities can ask Hong Kong to hand them over to face justice – and vice versa. The arrangement has been in place for more than 30 years.

Mr. Raab has accused Beijing of human rights abuse against its Uighur population in China’s western province of Xinjiang.  He described the abuse as “gross and egregious”. He added that while Britain wants good relations with China, it could not stand by amid reports of forced sterilization and mass education camps targeting the Uighur population in Xinjiang.

Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming then denied those accusations and insisted there is “no so-called restriction of the population.” He added that there are “many fake accusations” against China and that Beijing was ready to respond in kind if the UK imposes sanctions on Chinese officials.

“If the UK goes that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it,” he said. “You have seen what happened between China and the United States … I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China-US happen in China-UK relations.”

These comments were the latest signs of increased tensions between the two countries. Issues between them not only include China’s treatment of its Uighur minority but also the new national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong, a former British colony handed back to China in 1997. As part of an agreement signed at the time, it enjoys some freedoms not seen in mainland China.

China’s new security law not only decreases the city’s autonomy but could also see critics of the Chinese government and protesters taken to courts on the mainland. The UK denounced it as “deeply troubling”, and has already offered residency rights to three million Hong Kongers.

Hong Kong has extradition agreements with 19 other countries, including Canada and Australia, which have already suspended theirs following the imposition of China’s new security law – which makes acts of subversion punishable by life sentences.

Bilateral relations between London and Beijing were further frayed when the UK decided to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from playing a part in the country’s 5G network. UK’s secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, said that the US sanctions previously imposed on Huawei “significantly changed the landscape”.

“Given the uncertainty this creates around Huawei’s supply chain, the UK can no longer be confident it will be able to guarantee the security of future Huawei 5G equipment” added Mr. Dowden.

Addressing the matter, Mr. Xiaoming also said Britain “should have its own independent foreign policy, rather than dance to the tune of the Americans like what happened to Huawei.”

The escalating tensions come at the time when the UK is trying to establish its place in the international system after Brexit.

Directorate of Lebanese Studies and Publications

Romy Harfouche