UK suspends Hong Kong extradition treaty

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab says while UK wants positive relationship with China, it disagreed strongly on new Hong Kong security laws.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab speaks in the House of Commons in London overnight. Picture: AFP

The British government has severed its extradition treaty with Hong Kong “immediately and indefinitely” amid escalating tensions between the UK and China.

UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the suspension of the UK extradition treaty was a reasonable and proportionate response to China’s failure to live up to its responsibilities regarding new security laws imposed on Hong Kong.

He said while the UK desired a positive relationship with China, it was “clear where we disagree”.

“I have consulted with the Home Secretary, the Justice Secretary and the Attorney-General and the government has decided to suspend the extradition treaty immediately and indefinitely,” Mr Raab told parliament.

✅ - Extending the arms embargo that applies to China to Hong Kong.

✅ - Suspending our extradition treaty with Hong Kong indefinitely

2/2 pic.twitter.com/ruX44kDW2n

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) July 20, 2020

He said China’s new security law imposed on Hong Kong created uncertainty and he called for clear and robust safeguards stopping extraditions being misused.

The UK is worried China may seek to punish Hong Kong citizens who take up the UK’s offer of working visas, especially if they are pro-democracy campaigners.

The suspension of the extradition means there is no legal means for China or Hong Kong to request the UK to send back people accused of a crime. The UK has also expanded an arms embargo on exporting to China to now include Hong Kong.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there needed to be a balance in the UK’s relationship with China.

He said the UK would continue to engage with Beijing, but would take a “calibrated response” which would require being tough on some things, but continuing to engage.

This comes as pressure builds on the Chinese social media company TikTok amid claims it could be forced to hand information to the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok 'as much of a threat' to UK as Huawei over spying fears, warn senior Tories https://t.co/pwwSbXLHhh

— The Sun (@TheSun) July 20, 2020

Tory MPs have been agitating for TikTok to be banned because of privacy concerns.

Theo Bertram, TikTok’s head of public policy for Europe, told the BBC the company would not hand over any data to the Chinese government.

“The suggestion that we are in any way under the thumb of the Chinese government is completely and utterly false,” he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — who will this week meeting with Tory MPs who forced the UK government to backtrack on allowing Huawei in the country’s 5G network — has claimed TikTok users risked their information being in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.