Hong Kong Halts Extradition Bill

After months of protests, Hong Kong’s legislature on Wednesday, 23 October, formally stopped the controversial extradition bill that sparked the civil unrest.

The bill would have allowed criminals to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China. Many have argued that the bill would have given China even more power to clamp down on political dissidents.

John Lee, security secretary, said: “I now formally announce the withdrawal of the bill.”

This move alone is unlikely to quell the strikes, as the rallying cry of the pro-democracy demonstrators has been “five demands, not one less”, implying that just the withdrawal of the bill will do little to stop their actions.

Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, previously stated in September that she had ordered her government to withdraw the bill, but the protestors have demanded she stand down and for an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality be set up.

The months of unrest have been the worst Hong Kong has seen since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.

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