Cooperation between Hong Kong’s law enforcement and international agencies has not been enfeebled by geopolitical tensions even though a number of Western countries’ suspension of extradition agreements with the city did benefit some criminals, the security minister has said.
Chris Tang Ping-keung, the secretary for security, on Thursday also said his bureau would work on improving the business environment by facilitating travel between Hong Kong and mainland China not only for locals but also visitors in step with the government’s renewed emphasis on lifting the economy after the passing of a domestic national security law.
“We are always looking at [whether there is] any further room that we can do to facilitate the travel between Hong Kong and [the] mainland for not just local people, but also expatriates or even other visitors,” he said.
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Hong Kong has been caught in the geopolitical battle between China and the West after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020 in response to the months-long anti-government protests of the previous year.
Several countries – including the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and Germany – suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong in protest, drawing tit-for-tat retaliation from Beijing, which ordered the city to do the same.
Nearly four years on, Tang conceded the suspension did have an impact on Hong Kong but stressed the city had not become a haven for criminals, given there were still other means for the government to work with overseas agencies in bringing them to justice.
“Of course there will be an impact as such suspensions would only benefit criminals,” the security chief told the Post in an exclusive interview.
“But the blow is not as big. Even though we no longer have mutual legal assistance agreements with these countries, we can still handle some non-sensitive cases through individual arrangements.”
Tang cited as an example this week’s issuance of a red notice by Interpol upon Hong Kong police’s request to launch a global manhunt for Wong Ching-kit, a young cryptocurrency promoter, over his suspected role in several criminal cases.
Tang said that if Wong was arrested in the US, technically Washington would not extradite him to Hong Kong in the absence of a mutual legal assistance agreement, but it could still be done if both sides reached a legal consensus on an individual basis.
Such cooperation could usually be done for “non-sensitive” crimes involving drug dealers or scammers, he said, hinting that local authorities would not attempt similar requests for the political cases given how these would have little chance of succeeding.
“Will I ask [Britain] to send Nathan Law Kwun-chung back?” Tang said.
London-based Law is one of 13 Hongkongers in exile overseas accused of violating the national security law who have a HK$1 million (US$128,060) bounty each on their heads.
The security minister said he did not see any trend of more criminals hiding in Hong Kong due to its lack of extradition deals with other countries as the city could still hand them over via other means. But he stopped short of revealing how many such case-by-case deals had been struck since 2020.
Tang also described it as “a shame” that these countries suspended the arrangements.
“I think in the fight against crime, international cooperation is very important and we try not to be influenced by politics. But unfortunately, some countries suspended our [mutual legal assistance] arrangement. I think this is a shame,” he said.
Some training exchange programmes of law enforcement agencies had also been affected by the geopolitical tensions, he revealed, as some of these courses had now moved to countries such as Singapore.
With the passage of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in March, which crossed off a key task on Beijing’s checklist for the city, the administration led by John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to focus on economic development.
Tang noted that helping businesses must go hand in hand with safeguarding national security as he argued the city was still facing three kinds of threats, notably home-grown terrorism, foreign interference and what he described as soft resistance.
In May, authorities arrested seven people in the first sedition case under the new ordinance over content they allegedly published on the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
“What do you mean by soft resistance? It seems like [they] are not committing offences, it seems like [they are] moving along the red line. But in fact, their intention and motive is to endanger national security,” he said.
But Tang said his bureau would also play a part in boosting the economy by facilitating travel for Hongkongers.
He cited the new permit issued by Beijing allowing foreign passport holders with permanent residency in Hong Kong or Macau to apply for a multi-entry five-year visa to enter the mainland, as well as a new practice to allow local residents to use QR codes with fingerprint and facial recognition screenings to enter Macau and vice versa.
A co-location arrangement would also be implemented at the newly rebuilt Huanggang boundary crossing, he added.
Hong Kong’s foreign chambers of commerce have welcomed the new permit for non-Chinese permanent residents, which they described as a game-changer that would help strengthen the financial hub’s superconnector role.
Tang said the government’s discussions with its mainland counterparts had been “ongoing” when asked whether there was any timetable to expand the permit to non-permanent residents in Hong Kong.
“I think we have to do it step by step. We have just introduced the mainland visa permit in less than a month, we will see how it goes,” he said.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong police surveillance cameras in public places will have facial recognition: Chris Tang
- No protest requests in Hong Kong have been rejected since 2022: security chief Chris Tang
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