Pandemonium in Hong Kong legislative council over controversial extradition law
The legislative council of the ex-British colony and the present Chinese region of Hong Kong has fell into the disturbing state of pandemonium, as the pro-Beijing lawmakers have tried to push a controversial extradition law through the lawmaking house at the behest of the Chinese government, which is gradually increasing its influence in the region in contrary to an assurance it gave to the UK when the region was handed to them in the late 90s that it would respect the autonomy of the region and would go by the “one country two system” formula as prescribed by the west.
The new law, once implemented, will allow the Chinese authorities to extradite people from the country even to those countries which do not have a formal extradition agreement with the region.
The pro-democratic force is not a significant force in the Hong Kong council. It constitutes less than 1/3rd of the total strength of the council. It means that it cannot veto the legislation.
A pro-democratic leader says that he will do whatever he can to delay the passage of the anti-Hong Kong legislation.
Several pro-democratic citizens have organised marches across the region. Many have even gathered outside the council fearlessly to express their dissatisfaction.
The west, including the US, has expressed their concern about the bill. They suspect that the bill may hurt their business interest in the region.
Unlike the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong is a business friendly region. Many powerful western companies have stakes in this region.
Till recently, especially until the emergence of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the region was considered as the gateway to Asia.
Since the exit of the UK, the Chinese authorities have been slowly pushing the region towards the complete control of the mainland. The effort is not without any resistance. For last few years, the pro-democratic forces, mostly youngsters, have been aggressively campaigning against the excess intervention of China in their internal affairs.
China has brutally suppressed most pro-democratic protests. So far, numerous pro-democratic activists have been jailed.
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Vignesh. S. G
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