'China leaned on Hong Kong not to hand fugitive to US'

HONG KONG: The US State Department said Hong Kong's chief, Carrie Lam, rejected a request closing yr to give up a fugitive into the custody of the United States, at China's behest.
In an annual report at the Asian financial hub this week, the State Department said closing October's rejection used to be the first such instance since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong has a formal extradition agreement with the United States but now not with China, even supposing the latter has passed over legal suspects on an advert hoc basis through the years.

The refusal used to be "at the behest of the (Chinese) central government," the State Department said, adding that the fugitive used to be later launched into Chinese custody "on the basis that the central government was pursuing a separate criminal action".

It added, "The central government has provided no information as to the disposition of its own case."

Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" arrangement guarantees it a high stage of autonomy now not enjoyed in mainland China, together with independent judicial power and law enforcement.

But police in China's bordering southern province of Guangdong have despatched no less than 175 suspects to government in Hong Kong since 2000, state media said closing yr.

The US report did not title the fugitive, or element the crime, but Hong Kong media said the individual used to be Iat Hong, a pc hacker and Macau resident charged via US government with stealing confidential knowledge from US law firms and trading on it for benefit.

Reuters used to be unable to right away hint touch details for Hong.

A spokeswoman for the US consulate in Hong Kong gave no additional details when contacted via Reuters, and declined to confirm if the individual used to be Iat Hong.

Hong's rejected extradition request, however, used to be mentioned in a US Department of Justice letter this yr in a separate graft case involving a former senior Hong Kong reliable, Patrick Ho.

Hong's "lengthy, cumbersome extradition application" used to be rejected after nearly 10 months of proceedings in Hong Kong, the letter said.

"Hong ... has not been - and it appears never will be - extradited," it added.

Lam's place of job, and the Department of Justice, declined to make any rapid remark.

Pro-democracy lawmaker James To said the case undermined public confidence in Hong Kong's autonomy and suggested the town's chief to provide an explanation for the verdict.

Young folks in Hong Kong have expressed frustration on the perceived creeping affect of Communist Party rulers in Beijing over the town's tradition and freedoms.

In Beijing, a overseas ministry spokeswoman said she had no particular understanding of the case, but stressed China totally supported Hong Kong's autonomy under the "one country, two systems" arrangement.

However the US report had made "irresponsible comments" and China used to be resolutely opposed to it, the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, informed a normal media briefing.

The US report also mentioned indicators of overreach via Chinese government in Hong Kong.

"Central government authorities ... issued public statements that diluted the concept of 'high degree of autonomy' and the freedoms contemplated in the Basic Law," it said, relating to the town's mini-constitution.