Hundreds of thousands of people are arguing in Hong Kong against the proposed legislation to extradite suspects to mainland China for trial. It is expected to be the mega demonstration in Hong Kong in years, and there may be half a million people on the move.
Hong Kong was a British colony and was returned to China in 1997, but since then, it has autonomous status with its legal system. Many residents see the rest of China abroad.
They fear that the simplification of the extradition of suspects to the rest of China will undermine their legal system – which is based on a Western approach.
The suspects could not count on a fair trial elsewhere in China. In the People’s Republic, all the defendants are found guilty and convicted, and the judiciary is not independent.
Some demonstrators – the police spoke to at least 300,000 demonstrators at the end of the afternoon (local time) – showed banners with the text “Delivered to China, gone forever.”
Hong Kong entrepreneurs are also worried that the extradition law will damage the reputation of the metropolis as a free and liberal international trade centre. The Hong Kong people’s representation deals with the extradition law Wednesday.