The Hong Kong protests originally started because of an extradition bill that would have allowed China to extradite this guy who murdered his girlfriend back to Taiwan. Hong Kong can only extradite to countries it has treaties with, of which Taiwan was not one, so the bill allows a federal Chinese authority to make extraditions when necessary. This was seen as a federal overstep to the protesters, a la “states rights” here in America.
It was both. IIRC the murderer killed his pregnant girlfriend in Taiwan and fled to Hong Kong. But HK can't just have an extradition Treaty with Taiwan, because its not an independent country but a rival government of China. So it necessitated a Treaty with the PRC as well.
It was 100% just a pretext for riots that were planned well in advance (they were basically a continuation of the 2014 Umbrella Movement). They knew protesting extradition laws to the sinister mainland were an easy cause to spin in the West, which was vital. Conveniently left out were the part about the murderer and that extradition for political crimes was explicitly barred.
Funny part is - all of this is just on Wikipedia in fairly clear language, and you can rationalize arguments for both sides of the debate about this law with even the most cursory analysis. Seeing the blatant CHINA BAD propaganda and the cynical exploitation of these actions for Western imperialist ends changed me from relatively neutral on the matter to pretty Chinapilled.
What happened to the guy? Did Hong Kong put him on trial?
Whether China should have more control over Hong Kong or less doesn't depend on a single extradition case. That was just the case that happened to trigger the legal dispute.
He went to prison for 18 months in Hong Kong, not for murdering his girlfriend , but for stealing money from her credit card after he killed her. After his release he volunteered to face trial in Taiwan, but Hong Kong wouldn't allow him to leave. He's living in a police safe house, evidently.
The Hong Kong protests originally started because of an extradition bill that would have allowed China to extradite this guy who murdered his girlfriend back to Taiwan. Hong Kong can only extradite to countries it has treaties with, of which Taiwan was not one, so the bill allows a federal Chinese authority to make extraditions when necessary. This was seen as a federal overstep to the protesters, a la “states rights” here in America.
Lmao. I forgot it was to TAIWAN! Not even the fucking mainland.
It was both. IIRC the murderer killed his pregnant girlfriend in Taiwan and fled to Hong Kong. But HK can't just have an extradition Treaty with Taiwan, because its not an independent country but a rival government of China. So it necessitated a Treaty with the PRC as well.
i had no fucking idea
It was 100% just a pretext for riots that were planned well in advance (they were basically a continuation of the 2014 Umbrella Movement). They knew protesting extradition laws to the sinister mainland were an easy cause to spin in the West, which was vital. Conveniently left out were the part about the murderer and that extradition for political crimes was explicitly barred.
Funny part is - all of this is just on Wikipedia in fairly clear language, and you can rationalize arguments for both sides of the debate about this law with even the most cursory analysis. Seeing the blatant CHINA BAD propaganda and the cynical exploitation of these actions for Western imperialist ends changed me from relatively neutral on the matter to pretty Chinapilled.
What happened to the guy? Did Hong Kong put him on trial?
Whether China should have more control over Hong Kong or less doesn't depend on a single extradition case. That was just the case that happened to trigger the legal dispute.
He went to prison for 18 months in Hong Kong, not for murdering his girlfriend , but for stealing money from her credit card after he killed her. After his release he volunteered to face trial in Taiwan, but Hong Kong wouldn't allow him to leave. He's living in a police safe house, evidently.