[Hong Kong is an obvious target because it has a vocal community of pro-democracy activists and lawmakers. Tens of thousands took part in a movement demanding free elections that seized control of downtown streets for 11 weeks in late 2014, and large crowds attend an annual vigil that commemorates Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square.]
By
Mike Ives
 |
|
Hundreds
of thousands in Hong Kong on Sunday joined protests against a plan to allow
extraditions
to
mainland China. Credit Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
|
HONG
KONG — Hundreds of thousands
protested in Hong Kong on Sunday against a government plan that would allow
extraditions to mainland China.
The mass demonstration was among the largest
in Hong Kong’s history, and another sign of rising fear and anger over the
erosion of the civil liberties that have long set the semiautonomous city apart
from the Chinese mainland.
[Hong Kong’s leader says she won’t back down.]
[Hong Kong’s leader says she won’t back down.]
The relationship between Hong Kong and the
central government in Beijing is complicated and evolving. Here’s the key
background.
Is
Hong Kong part of China?
Yes, but it’s not that simple.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was
returned to China in 1997 under a policy known as “one country, two systems,”
which promised the territory a high degree of autonomy. The policy has helped
preserve Hong Kong’s civil service, independent courts, freewheeling press,
open internet and other features that distinguish it from the Chinese mainland.
But that autonomy, guaranteed under a
mini-constitution known as the Basic Law, expires in 2047. Well before Hong
Kong is set to lose its unique status, however, the Basic Law has been weakened
as China’s Communist Party increasingly meddles in Hong Kong’s affairs — for
example, by abducting booksellers and a Chinese-born billionaire.
Why
is Beijing meddling in Hong Kong?
The pressure reflects a broader tightening of
controls across China under President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012 and
has pursued critics with increasing boldness.
Hong Kong is an obvious target because it has
a vocal community of pro-democracy activists and lawmakers. Tens of thousands
took part in a movement demanding free elections that seized control of
downtown streets for 11 weeks in late 2014, and large crowds attend an annual
vigil that commemorates Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square.
But the Basic Law guarantees that Chinese
authorities cannot stifle dissent in Hong Kong with an iron fist, as they do
across the mainland and in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
Analysts say that has forced Beijing to chip away at the independence of Hong
Kong’s institutions by other means — for example, by pressing the extradition
plan.
What
is the extradition plan?
The bill would allow Hong Kong to detain and
transfer people wanted in countries and territories with which it has no formal
extradition agreements, including Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Carrie Lam,
Hong Kong’s chief executive, has said the new law is urgently needed to
prosecute a Hong Kong man who is wanted in Taiwan for the murder of his
girlfriend.
Critics contend that the law would allow
virtually anyone in the city to be picked up and detained in mainland China, a
country in which judges must follow the orders of the Communist Party. They
fear the new law would not just target criminals but political activists as
well.
The extradition plan applies to 37 crimes.
That excludes political ones, but critics fear the legislation would
essentially legalize the sort of abductions to the mainland that have taken
place in Hong Kong in recent years. (The mainland authorities are typically not
permitted to operate here.)
Under the law, the chief executive would need
to approve an extradition request before an arrest warrant is issued. A Hong
Kong court would also be empowered to check that there is a basic case against
a suspect.
Yet Hong Kong’s subordinate status to the
mainland would make it extremely difficult for a local leader to reject an
extradition request from her superiors.
Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, has said
it would not comply with any extradition agreement that lumps it together with
the Chinese mainland. And many in Hong Kong — where the government has ousted
opposition lawmakers and rejected demands for free elections — see the
extradition plan as the endgame of a long battle to disable dissent and
political opposition in their city.
Who
opposes the plan?
The plan has sparked petitions from people
across Hong Kong who fear they could end up in a mainland legal system where
the Communist Party routinely prosecutes dissidents and others for political
reasons.
Hong Kong is connected to the Chinese
mainland by a land border, high-speed rail and a long sea bridge. Residents on
both sides cross the border regularly, although mainlanders must apply for
permission to enter Hong Kong.
An April demonstration against the plan was
the city’s biggest in five years, and anger over it led to scuffles in Hong
Kong’s legislature last month.
Sunday’s protest, which stretched for more
than a mile through canyons of downtown skyscrapers, may have been the largest
here since 2003, when half a million marchers demonstrated against a
Beijing-backed package of national security laws prohibiting sedition,
subversion and treason against the Chinese government.
What
happens next?
Another round of protests has been called for
Wednesday, as Hong Kong’s legislature resumes consideration of the bill. A vote
on the measure is expected on June 27.
In 2003, the Hong Kong government shelved its
proposed national security legislation, known as Article 23, after
demonstrators said it threatened civil liberties enshrined in the Basic Law.
Opposition to the extradition bill is even higher, according to a recent poll
by the University of Hong Kong.
Because pro-Beijing lawmakers hold 43 of 70
seats in the Hong Kong legislature, the bill is likely to pass unless the
government backs down. Ms. Lam said on Monday that she would not.
Katherine Li contributed reporting.
