[chatmasta]

Couldn’t you say the same about any pair of counties without an extradition treaty? If an American flees to Russia, he’s “above the law” in America, for example.

What makes HK so special that they must have an extradition treaty with China?

[NotPaidToPost]

> What makes HK so special that they must have an extradition treaty with China?

Apart from being a Chinese territory?

[chatmasta]

Hong Kong and China are separate legal jurisdictions, which seems to be the relevant distinction when considering extradition laws.

It’s a bit reductive to describe Hong Kong as a “Chinese territory.”

What do you think would happen if China attempted to forcefully annex Hong Kong?

[NotPaidToPost]

How would you proceed to "annex" your own territory?

HK is not Crimea (mentioned by someone else), it is Chinese but enjoys a high degree of autonomy until 2047.

[chatmasta]

You send a bunch of soldiers into the territory and say the treaty is canceled, 28 years early.

[DiogenesKynikos]

The PLA is already stationed in Hong Kong. They moved in during the early morning of 1 July 1997:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koH6lGlcbn8

[DiogenesKynikos]

China annexed Hong Kong in 1997.

[alasdair_]

>What do you think would happen if China attempted to forcefully annex Hong Kong?

Lots of social media posts. Little action. Just like the Crimea.

[SpicyLemonZest]

Crimea has the problem that the annexation was very, very popular among Crimeans, even more so than most separatist movements. That doesn't make it okay, but after the fact, it'd be hard for third parties to justify forcibly reuniting Crimeans with the Ukranian government they don't want to be under.