Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives for a COBRA meeting at 10 Downing street in central London on April 9, 2020.
OLGA AKMEN | AFP via Getty Images
The UK has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong amid mounting tensions with China over its new national security law in the former British colony.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced in a speech to the House of Commons on Monday that the treaty would be suspended until further notice. The move comes amid widespread condemnation of the Beijing security law, which stipulates that acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion are punishable by life imprisonment, after a prolonged period of pro-democracy protests in the city.
The UK has also offered 3 million Hong Kong citizens visa rights following the passage of the bill, and Western powers accuse China of restricting the city’s autonomy. Beijing denied violating international law and accused the United States and the United Kingdom of trying to destabilize the region by meddling in Chinese affairs.
The treaty, which has been in force for more than 30 years, means that someone in Hong Kong suspected of a crime in the UK can be handed over to face justice at the request of the British government, and vice versa. The United States, Canada and Australia have suspended similar treaties since the new security law was imposed.
Relations between London and Beijing have continued to crack on multiple fronts, further inflamed last week by the UK’s decision to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network.
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