A Bill like no other

Reading another headliner about the chaos happening in Hong Kong, Yuki, a 21-year-old undergraduate sighed at her home country’s situation. Many of her friends and even her brother had joined in the protests in the past week to express their displeasure with the government’s decision.

 While she was unable to join in the protests in-person, she takes to social media to express her frustration.

“This is the only way we can share our voices” Yuki explained. Like her, many Hong Kongers have posted online to express and critique on what the government has done.

While watching the latest video of Carrie Lam’s apology, she shares “From her responses we see that she simply repeats herself and she did not even address many of the questions from the people. It was simply disappointing and shows her lack of commitment towards Hong Kong”. It saddened her to see the government showing no signs of change or even empathy for the public’s very persistent cry. It was evident that this topic that was difficult to discuss and understandably so because it concerned her home country and its future.

Extradition Bill Explained

Changes to the bill first surfaced in February because of a criminal case involving Hongkonger Chan Tong-kai who was wanted for suspected murder of his pregnant girlfriend. He fled to Hong Kong to avoid facing trial in Taiwan. Chan was not sent back to Taiwan for trial since no formal extradition agreement was in place between the two lands. This ignited the government’s initial amendments that sparked this controversial debate.

Negotiated in 1997, Hong Kong’s extradition arrangements are laid out in the Foreign Offenders Ordinance which does not include Taiwan, Macau and mainland China.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor has put forth amendments to the bill covering some 37 offences. The amended legislation would allow transfer of fugitives from Hong Kong to mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and other jurisdictions with which the city has no extradition deal.

Beijing showed their support by backing Lam’s campaign and canvassing votes for the bill. Many other nations showed their resistance especially with the looming US-China trade war. Amidst the volatile tensions and political situation, amendments to the bill is regarded by many Hong Kongers as a sign of the vanishing Hong Kong rights and freedom.

Earlier in April, nine leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations known as the “Umbrella Movement” were convicted. Judges were supposedly under pressure from China to issue heavy sentences to deter such future protests.

When Hong Kong was returned in China, they operate under “one country, two systems”. The addition of China into the amendment of the Bill prompted the public to show their disagreement and disapproval. By including China, whose justice system remains separate according to the 1984 handover agreement. However, this bill has put people in fear of moving closer towards a one system approach.

Thousands of citizens took to the streets and protests erupted on 12 June when there was a planned reading of the bill. Their upset led to the largest demonstration to date, of two million strong that joined in a march surrounding the government’s central complex in Admiralty. Classifying this clash as a “riot”, the police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbags at demonstrators outside the Legislative Council. This sparked international debate on police brutality and criticism from governments in US, Europe and other nations.

I offer my most sincere apology to all the people of Hong Kong

-Carrie Lam

Last Saturday, she held a press conference where she apologised for the way the draft law was handled and suspended the amendments.

The reaction?

Many Hong Kongers, like Yuki, doubted the sincerity behind the apology and were skeptical at the suspension of the bill.

A smaller protest ensued on Monday around the complex but concluded by the following day as the office reopened.

What does the future of Hong Kong hold?

One thing is for sure. The Hong Kong government can expect their decisions to be largely scrutinised by citizens and even foreign governments especially after this saga.