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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Hong Kong and the politics of extradition
KENNY COYLE explains how the Hong Kong protests came about and how chief executive Carrie Lam’s botched legislation has inflamed the situation
Protesters defacing the Legislative Council chamber and mounting a colonial-era British flag

OVER the past few weeks hundreds of thousands in Hong Kong have protested against the proposed introduction of a global extradition Bill. The largely peaceful demonstrations filled the front pages and the airwaves of the Western corporate media.

Western news outlets unquestioningly repeated the inflated figures of one and two million provided by the organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front, ignoring more objective estimates by local academics. 

While the figures are more likely to be around 20 per cent of the headline figures, the fact remains that a huge number Hong Kong citizens took to the streets to voice their anger and concern.

  • The crime must have been committed within the jurisdiction of the requesting country, not within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
  • It must be a crime which is also considered an offence under Hong Kong law too.
  • Extradition for overtly political or religious reasons is expressly prohibited.
  • There must be no question of the crime being a disguise for secondary charges related to political or religious “crimes.”
  • The minimum sentence for the crime must be at least seven years, ruling out all but the most serious categories.
  • Those facing extradition must have the grounds for their deportation investigated and confirmed by a Hong Kong court. They also have the right to appeal.
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