Over 1 million march in Hong Kong over China's extradition law

The anti-Chinese protest by around a seventh of Hong Kong citizens, or 1.03 million, is rising as a new issue of conflict between the United States and China following the Taiwanese issue. The Chinese government has maintained that the opposition to the “extradition bill of criminals,” which sparked the demonstration in Hong Kong, is an attempt by the United States to put pressure on China. Previously, the United States criticized the bill in question for threatening the rule of law in Hong Kong.

The protest against the bill to extradite criminals was attended by around 1.03 million citizens in Hong Kong on Sunday, according to the protest organizers. It is reported by Hong Kong media outlets that the demonstration is the largest ever since Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. Hundreds of protesters and police forces clashed into each other early on Monday in front of the Hong Kong parliament, leaving many injured and more than one hundred under arrest.

The Hong Kong government considers establishing the bill to extradite criminals to countries that does not sign the treaty on extradition including China. The legislative body is bound to vote on the bill on Wednesday. There has been criticism by the opposition party and civic groups in Hong Kong that once introduced, the bill will be misused to send anti-Chinese dissidents and human rights activists to the mainland China, violating democracy and rule of law in China. Twenty-nine cities of 12 nations across the globe including the United States, Australia, Germany, Taiwan and Japan saw protests against the introduction of the extradition bill, according to Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post.

The United States has raised its intervention in the Hong Kong issue, which is obviously relevant to the trade war between Washington and Beijing, according to an editorial of the Global Times under the auspices of Beijing’s official newspaper People's Daily. It wrote that Washington takes advantage of Hong Kong to gain an upper hand in the battle with Beijing. It added that Hong Kong opponents of the bill visited the United States in March and May to meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and State Secretary Mike Pompeo. Afterwards, the secretary put the bill under fire, according to the newspaper.


Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com