Extradition perdition postponed

In the wake of the suspension of the extradition bill in Hong Kong, critics see a less difficult path for Macau to advance a similar bill – but they doubt whether the city needs to do so in haste, given Article 23 legislation is already in place 

Last month, several protests brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of Hong Kong for two consecutive Sundays. A violent confrontation between police officers and protestors that resulted in police discharging  
of over 150 rounds of tear gas, 20 beanbag rounds and several rounds of rubber bullets.  

These unprecedented scenes all unfolded in stifling June heat in the wake of the contentious extradition bill, which would enable the Asian financial centre to surrender suspected offenders and fugitives to places where it has not yet forged any formal extradition treaties, namely Mainland China.  
And again on July 1st when demonstrations invaded HK’s LEGCO Despite repeated claims from Hong Kong officials that the bill was initiated solely by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) some detect influences from north of the border. 

While the Hong Kong Government eventually suspended the bill due to mounting public pressure, the spectre of a similar bill being proposed in Macau – another Special Administrative Region often regarded as less defiant and politicalised – raises its head.  
Although critics do not foresee difficulties for the passage of such a bill here, likewise they do not see the urgency of the  
Macau Administration – and Beijing -rushing it through. 

The recent controversy was sparked by the murder case of Hong Konger Poon Hiu Wing, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Chan Tong Kai whilst holidaying in Taiwan last year. Mr. Chan – who had already returned to Hong Kong when the murder was discovered – could not be sent to Taiwan for trial as the HSAR does not have an extradition treaty with other parts of the Greater China region; namely, Taiwan, Macau and the Mainland.  

Geopolitical struggle 

Using this murder as a test case, the Hong Kong Administration purportedly pushed the fugitive bill to “plug a legal loophole”. Although Hong Kong claimed the bill was not ordered by Beijing, officials from the central government weighed in to support the bill, including Han Zheng, first Vice-premier of the central government in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs.  

The proposed legislation has sparked strong resistance from all walks of life in Hong Kong – from students to lawyers to businessmen – and from foreign governments: due, in the main, to mistrust of the Mainland’s judicial system. They are worried that any person could be extradited across the border for political reasons masked by the veil of legitimate charges.  

Hong Kong-based political commentator Johnny Lau Yui Siu believes the development of the extradition bill shows that the Asian financial centre is entangled in the geopolitical struggle emanating from the trade war between China and the United States.  

“Hong Kong is a battleground between China and external forces, in the wake of the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Canada,” he said, referring to the detention of a Chinese businesswoman in Canada at the request of the United States for alleged financial fraud charges two months before the Hong Kong Administration proposed the extradition bill.  

“The proposed legislation could allow the arrest of foreigners transiting or visiting Hong Kong at the request of the central government on alleged charges,” Mr. Lau noted.  

The overwhelming opposition – including a protest by some two million people in a city populated by seven million – has, however, forced the Hong Kong Administration to suspend the legislative process of the contentious bill without a timetable for restart.  

Pressure and reservations 

Had Hong Kong approved the bill, Macau would have been under pressure to follow suit, said Eilo Yu Wing Yat, an Associate Professor of government and public Administration at the University of Macau. The gambling enclave has currently only forged extradition treaties with three countries and regions; co-operation with other parts of the Greater China region in the relevant areas remains a blank.  

“But the Hong Kong authorities have made a concession and suspended the bill, [so] I don’t think the Macau Administration would touch on this controversy in the short time,” the scholar remarked, adding prominent figures such as Jorge Neto Valente, the long-standing president of the Macau Lawyers Association, have expressed reservations about the extradition bill. 

Mr. Valente said in June that the bill represented “another nail in the coffin of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, a constitution principle for Macau and Hong Kong which allows these territories to retain semi-autonomy via their judicial, administrative and economic systems while remaining part of China. The veteran lawyer also noted that civil society in Macau would not elicit such strong reaction as their counterparts in the neighbouring Special Administrative Region should the bill be tabled here. 

“I don’t think Macau society is particularly concerned about the development of the bill [in Hong Kong],” Yu remarked. “They generally think it only targets corrupt businessmen, with most people remaining unscathed.” 

Article 23 

This view is shared by Macau-based political commentator Larry So Man Yum, who predicts a rather easy path for the city to approve a similar extradition bill.  

“Learning from the experiences of Hong Kong,” he said, “ I think the Macau Government will handle the matter in a more cautious way and provide more information for the public to understand should a similar bill be tabled here.” 

Mr. So, however, does not see any urgency for the Macau Government to do so.  

“We’ve seen some cases in the past that the government could still explore means beyond the legal regime to send fugitives to Mainland authorities, such as resorting to the repatriation of suspects,” he said, referring to cases exposed by South China Morning Post in 2016.  

The Hong Kong newspaper reported at the time that Macau law enforcement agencies had used extrajudicial means to turn over at least three people – Hong Kongers and Mainland Chinese – to Mainland authorities. The Macau Administration responded at the time that that they had stopped turning over fugitives to the Mainland due mostly to the different interpretations of the law between the law enforcement agencies and local judges.  

“Coupled with the fact that Article 23 of the Basic Law is already in place here, which has yet to be enforced in Hong Kong, I don’t see the Macau Government rushing to propose an extradition bill,” concluded So.  

Article 23 concerns national security and prohibits any act of treason, secession, sedition or subversion of the central government. The Hong Kong Administration proposed the National Security Bill in 2003 but massive public defiance – similar to the current scenario surrounding extradition legislation – forced it to shelve it.  

In Macau, however, the National Security Bll was successfully approved and came into force in Macau without any major opposition in 2009. No person has so far been charged with this law here. 

Beijing’s orders 

With just months before Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On steps down on December 20 after a 10-year reign, it is believed the incumbent Administration will not propose an extradition bill.  

Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said last month that Macau could only negotiate a fugitive extradition agreement with Taiwan, Hong Kong or the Mainland on the basis of a bill on regional mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.  

“There is no new progress” concerning the regional legal assistance bill, given the “huge discrepancies” between the judicial systems of Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland, she added. 

In the wake of the corruption trial of Hong Kong tycoons Joseph Lau Luen Hung and Steven Lo Kit Sing – convicted of bribery in Macau in 2014 but who have avoided serving their sentences – the Macau Government proposed the regional legal assistance bill in December 2015, which would lay down guidelines for the transfer of fugitives and sentenced persons within the Greater China region. In the event, the bill was scrapped due to the huge differences of the judicial systems in the region. 

Local legislator Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong also believes the submission of an extradition bill “depends upon whether Beijing wants to have it done here. If Beijing wants to advance the bill here, any Chief Executive will simply follow the order.” 

Upon announcing his candidature for the city’s top job in June, the frontrunner to succeed Mr. Chui for the next five years – former Legislative Assembly President Ho Iat Seng – acknowledged that the extradition bill has caused havoc in nearby Hong Kong. Should he be elected Chief Executive, the next-term government would “ponder” the extradition arrangement between Macau and Hong Kong, he said. 


Only three 

Macau currently only has treaties in place with three jurisdictions with regard to surrendering fugitives or sentenced persons; namely, with Portugal, Mongolia and Nigeria. 

The latest agreement – concerning the extradition of fugitives between Macau and Portugal – was published in the Official Gazette last month.  According to the treaty, fugitives committing crimes punishable by the laws of both Macau and Portugal attracting sentences of one year or more could be surrendered. 

Portugal could refuse to hand over Portuguese fugitives requested by Macau authorities, while Macau could also refuse to send Chinese nationals and permanent residents of Macau who are not Portuguese nationals, the agreement states. The pact is based upon the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement between Macau and Portugal inked in 2001. 

Macau signed extradition agreements of sentenced persons with Mongolia and Nigeria, respectively, in 2018. 

In preparation for forging extradition agreements with other jurisdictions, the city signed mutual legal assistance treaties with East Timor and Cape Verde, respectively, in 2008 and 2013. The Macau Government has also revealed it is undergoing negotiations for reaching judicial pacts with the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. 


Starting from sentenced persons 

Before the havoc and controversy caused by the now-suspended extradition bill in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China once planned to initially deepen judicial co-operation with the extradition of sentenced persons. 

Right after the Hong Kong Government proposed the extradition bill – allowing Hong Kong to surrender fugitives to jurisdictions where it does not have relevant treaties like Mainland China and Macau - Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan and Chinese Justice Minister Fu Zhenghua met on February 26 in Beijing.  

According to a press statement from the Justice Ministry, Mr. Fu said the ministry would work with the Macau Administration for the two places to establish comprehensive legal co-operation with the extradition of sentenced persons a starting point. 

Ms. Chan was quoted as saying a “breakthrough” was expected with regard to the extradition of sentenced persons between the two places.  

In June, in the wake of strong opposition from Hong Kongers to the now-suspended extradition bill, Chan said “there is no new progress” concerning a regional legal assistance bill, which would pave the way for the surrender of fugitives and sentenced persons between Macau and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China.