Hong Kong's extradition bill crisis

The bill was first proposed by the Hong Kong government in February 2019 in response to a 2018 homicide involving a Hong Kong couple while visiting Taiwan. Hong Kong does not have a treaty with Taiwan that allows for the arrest and extradition, even for murder. Negotiating such treaty would be problematic since the government of China does not recognise the sovereignty of Taiwan. To resolve this issue, the Hong Kong government proposed an amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Ordinance (Cap. 525) that would establish a mechanism for case-by-case transfers of fugitives, on the order of the Chief Executive, to any jurisdiction with which the city lacks a formal extradition treaty, and controversially included extradition to mainland China.

The inclusion of mainland China in the amendment became of concern to different sections of society. Democracy advocates expressed fears that the city's jurisdiction would merge itself with Chinese laws administered by the Communist Party, thereby eroding the "one country, two systems" principle established since the Handover in 1997. Opponents had urged the Hong Kong government to establish an extradition arrangement solely with Taiwan, and to sunset the arrangement immediately after the surrender of the suspect.