政府修訂《逃犯條例》引起國際社會關注，香港美國商會今日發表聲明，認為修例有太多根本性的不確定因素，又指香港未為修例好做好準備，不明白為何特區政府要急於修例，以堵塞存在超過 20年的制度漏洞。
商會在聲明中表示，昨日與政務司長張建宗會面，表達商會對修例的關注，並已向政務司長辦公室提出八大疑問，要求對方回應。商會提出的問題，包括據報有30名外交人員向特區政府表明不支持修例，其所屬國家可能因此改變與香港的關係，特區政府如何回應有關問題。
商會又說，3名本港資深法官表示對修例「深感不安」，並認為修例不可行，特區政府如何確保香港法治不會因強行通過修例而受損。商會亦要求特區政府澄清如何確保修例後，香港的新聞及言論自由不會受損。
AmCham’s Questions
- With 30 foreign diplomats reportedly indicating that they do not support the ordinance and that this may lead to a review of their home countries relationship with Hong Kong, how does the government plan to address these concerns to avoid any negative impact on Hong Kong’s international hub status?
- Three senior judges in Hong Kong publicly announced they are “deeply disturbed” by the proposed bill and saw the bill as “unworkable” because its amendments ignored the lack of trust in the legal system of mainland China. If one of the bill’s two main gatekeepers – the courts – feel the proposed legislation is unworkable, how will the government ensure that the rule of law in Hong Kong is not compromised if this legislation is forced ahead?
- The government has not clarified specific boundaries for the person who holds the authority to make extradition requests from mainland China. While it was once said extradition requests could only be made by any recognized individuals from the Central People’s Government, the Security Bureau also noted that “extradition requests would come from Mainland China courts, which are not internationally held in the same regard as Hong Kong’s.” Please kindly clarify.
- Secretary for Security John Lee highlighted that the amendments are “mainly aimed at fugitives who have committed serious crimes and do not affect Hong Kong’s freedom of the press and speech as safeguarded in the Basic Law and Hong Kong Law.” How will they be safeguarded technically?
- In the government’s reply to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission it was said that the ordinance amendments help establish the reputation of Hong Kong in combating crimes. Why would Hong Kong want to risk its reputation for the rule of law in order to gain this new reputation of “combating crimes” with the city’s relatively low crime rate?
- The government emphasized that the amendments focus only on fugitives, but not local ordinary citizens. How will this be differentiated?
- Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said the government would consider including a requirement that a requesting jurisdiction would guarantee suspects a fair trial. How will the Hong Kong Government ensure the requesting jurisdiction guarantees a fair trial?
- Media reports noted that the “Security Bureau admitted that, with the amendments to the extradition law, the Chinese government can request the freezing of the assets of a person deemed to be a fugitive from the mainland” Please provide more details on this to ensure business confidence is not at risk.