Tens of thousands of protesters are due to take to the streets of Hong Kong today to oppose a controversial extradition bill that would enable China to extradite fugitives from the city.
Critics say the bill will leave anyone on Hong Kong soil vulnerable to being grabbed by the Chinese authorities for political reasons or inadvertent business offenses and undermine the city’s semi-autonomous legal system.
The bill has caused political gridlock among the city’s usually pro-conservative business community.
The government says the bill is designed to plug loopholes in current law, by allowing Hong Kong to decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not to send fugitives to territories where it does not have formal extradition deals such as Taiwan, Macau and mainland China.