clh_hilary
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3 dead, 3.5 mil protest against China in Hong Kong
More than a million protestors - a historic record - have taken to the streets to protest against the proposed extradition bill to make it extradition between Hong Kong and China possible.
The Hong Kong government, headed by British national Carrie Lam, has promised the extradition changes after a murderer fled Taiwan to hide in Hong Kong. The Taiwanese government itself has strongly opposed the extradition, declaring that they are willing to make a one-off extradition for the murderer, but no extradition would be done if the bill is passed.
The bill is particularly concerning because it's not a regular one: it would make it possible for Chinese laws to apply in Hong Kong directly, by allowing Beijing to request extradition based on alleged violation of Chinese laws, ever if those are not crimes in Hong Kong. It would also make it possible for foreigners transiting in Hong Kong to be arrested by China.
China is known for making up non-political crimes to arrest descendants for political reasons, and in recent years it has detained multiple foreign nationals, including British, Swedish, Canadian, and Hungarian citizens, without a charge for months.
The bill has been universally condemned by the domestic and international business communities, with a local billionaire having filed a judicial review in court, and with the United States Commerce Association issuing statement after statement on the matter.
Internationally, it has also led to extraordinarily strong reactions from multiple powerful governments.
The European Union has issued a démarche directly to the Hong Kong government, with German and British officials also issuing their own objections, asking the Hong Kong government to re-consider.
The UK and Canada have issued an extraordinary joint statement on the matter, directly addressing the fact that the bill would violate the Sino-Anglo Joint Declaration. Many members of parliament, both in the Commons and in the Lords, have also written directly to the Chief Executive.
The United States's government likewise states its strong opposition to the bill, with members from both houses of congress having also written directly to the Chief Executive.
Other countries with officials speaking out against it include Malaysia and Taiwan.
Locally, opposition to the bill has been massive, apart from the falling approval rating of the Chief Executive, who in fact pledged to resign if a majority of Hong Kong people disapproved of her, but now saying poll numbers were not what she was talking about.
More than 750,000 signatures have been collected against the bill, a historic number, including a judge who broke protocol to state his opposition publicly. More than 100,000 people have petitioned the White House to intervene.
Notably, more than a million people protested on the streets on 9 June, a monumental number that tops all Hong Kong protests. It surpassed the 1 million who protested after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, and the 500,000 people who protested against the national security ordinance in 2003.
The police force is now conducting mass arrests, while accusing protestors of being violent, despite the fact that exactly 0 person has died, exactly 0 fire has been started, exactly 0 property has been damaged.
The government issued a statement acknowledging the huge amount of people on the street, but has declared that they couldn't care less, and that the bill will go through its second reading in the Legislative Council, presides by British citizen Andrew Leung, on 12 June as scheduled.
This is the reporting from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48572130
More than a million protestors - a historic record - have taken to the streets to protest against the proposed extradition bill to make it extradition between Hong Kong and China possible.
The Hong Kong government, headed by British national Carrie Lam, has promised the extradition changes after a murderer fled Taiwan to hide in Hong Kong. The Taiwanese government itself has strongly opposed the extradition, declaring that they are willing to make a one-off extradition for the murderer, but no extradition would be done if the bill is passed.
The bill is particularly concerning because it's not a regular one: it would make it possible for Chinese laws to apply in Hong Kong directly, by allowing Beijing to request extradition based on alleged violation of Chinese laws, ever if those are not crimes in Hong Kong. It would also make it possible for foreigners transiting in Hong Kong to be arrested by China.
China is known for making up non-political crimes to arrest descendants for political reasons, and in recent years it has detained multiple foreign nationals, including British, Swedish, Canadian, and Hungarian citizens, without a charge for months.
The bill has been universally condemned by the domestic and international business communities, with a local billionaire having filed a judicial review in court, and with the United States Commerce Association issuing statement after statement on the matter.
Internationally, it has also led to extraordinarily strong reactions from multiple powerful governments.
The European Union has issued a démarche directly to the Hong Kong government, with German and British officials also issuing their own objections, asking the Hong Kong government to re-consider.
The UK and Canada have issued an extraordinary joint statement on the matter, directly addressing the fact that the bill would violate the Sino-Anglo Joint Declaration. Many members of parliament, both in the Commons and in the Lords, have also written directly to the Chief Executive.
The United States's government likewise states its strong opposition to the bill, with members from both houses of congress having also written directly to the Chief Executive.
Other countries with officials speaking out against it include Malaysia and Taiwan.
Locally, opposition to the bill has been massive, apart from the falling approval rating of the Chief Executive, who in fact pledged to resign if a majority of Hong Kong people disapproved of her, but now saying poll numbers were not what she was talking about.
More than 750,000 signatures have been collected against the bill, a historic number, including a judge who broke protocol to state his opposition publicly. More than 100,000 people have petitioned the White House to intervene.
Notably, more than a million people protested on the streets on 9 June, a monumental number that tops all Hong Kong protests. It surpassed the 1 million who protested after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, and the 500,000 people who protested against the national security ordinance in 2003.
The police force is now conducting mass arrests, while accusing protestors of being violent, despite the fact that exactly 0 person has died, exactly 0 fire has been started, exactly 0 property has been damaged.
The government issued a statement acknowledging the huge amount of people on the street, but has declared that they couldn't care less, and that the bill will go through its second reading in the Legislative Council, presides by British citizen Andrew Leung, on 12 June as scheduled.
This is the reporting from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48572130
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