WHY Hong Kong?!!!

[JaneyVee]

In 2006 Hong Kong passed laws to allow wiretapping phones, bugging homes, offices, & monitoring email. Not exactly a bastion of free speech: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/world/asia/06cnd-hong.html?_r=0

[treestar]

1. It is known for being an unregulated free economy

Our latest hero specifically picked it because it is most respectful of liberty. That's what he said, anyway. Libertarians admire HK, feeling that it is a place of unfettered capitalism they can point to as very wealthy and proof that their theory works.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. LOL

Hong Kong is now basically controlled by China, that bastion of freedom.

[treestar]

4. LOL

It has been allowed to stay "special."

[msanthrope]

3. Libertarian paradise, less shooting than Somalia. nt

[randome]

5. Because a sign on the Ecuadorian embassy in the U.K. said 'No Vacancies'?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[malaise]

12. DUzy

[LittleBlue]

6. Here is my analysis on why he chose China

The Hong Kong government is supposed to be autonomous, that was the agreement between the PRC and Hong Kong when it was handed over more than a decade ago.

China has no extradition treaty with the US, and HK might not want to extradite him. There are already protests in HK due to the belief that China exerts too much control over them. A spat over the curriculum at high schools was the most recent. If HK hand him over at the request of China, the HK citizens would have their explosive evidence that China was violating the agreement.

On the other side, you have Obama. Who wants this man badly.

Caught in the middle is Xi Jinping, who is the Chinese leader. Handing over Snowden could cause a conflagration in an already rebellious province. Not handing him over will piss off the US. He must somehow placate the US and not lose control over HK. He has a China-friendly administration in HK who are having difficulty as it is, marching in and seizing Snowden could cause a real political crisis. I would not want to be Xi right now. He is caught between a superpower and a province with a dagger at the neck of China.


EDIT: To add that China has no extradition treaty with the US

[JaneyVee]

9. I thought they do have a bilateral extradition policy

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/71600.pdf

[LittleBlue]

14. HK does, but China doesn't

And in HK they have trials and such to determine whether a person should be extradited, and even asylum is considered, as they are from the British legal school.

He chose that country very carefully, knowing of its extradition treaty. And when the US pull the endaround and petition China (being its sovereign parent), it has no obligation either.

HK by the way, being from the British legal school, has no obligation to hand over suspects accused of political crimes. This would be an especially passionate issue for HK citizens due to its relationship with China.

[JaneyVee]

15. But isn't he in Hong Kong? Or is he planning on going to mainland China?

[LittleBlue]

16. He's in HK, but HK is part of China

It can either be the tail that is wagged or the tail that wags the dog. I have a hard time describing it.

Basically HK ceded only the sovereign issues of defense and diplomatic relations. It was a requirement for the HK citizens to swallow. Their governor is appointed by a select few, but is restrained both by China and the potential for unrest in HK.

If HK decides to hand him over, this creates huge problems for the governor as the HK citizens are strongly opposed to internet monitoring and Chinese influence. Handing him over would be seen as acceding themselves to both. The citizens of HK will not want to extradite him, and the governor will not want to anger the citizens, nor will the Chinese government who exert huge influence there. It risks a Tiannanmen incident.

HK does not have to hand him over if they find that the crime is political, that is part of the extradition agreement. Critically, the US can't go to China and petition them to exert their own laws, not having an extradition treaty themselves.

There are many players in this. The CCP, Xi's own interests, Obama, the governor's political life, and the citizens of HK. Snowden just made life hard for a lot of people.

EDIT- someone has written an article about his choice of HK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-hong-kong-gamble

[JaneyVee]

18. Ah, ok. Thanks for the link.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. That reads, to me, to be about crimes of violence, drugs, kidnapping and war crimes

so Snowden's actions wouldn't be covered by it at all.

[Cha]

7. Oh, I dunno.. whenever I think of a surrveillance free place.. China comes to mind.

[flamingdem]

8. I think he was more interested in the "no extradition"

aspect and for sure the Chinese will be watching him. I'm guessing they have an apparatus there of some kind even if "unofficial".

[Cha]

10. Oh yes, no extradition.. dump and run.

Snowden is now holed up in Hong Kong, in a hotel room where, according to the Guardian, he stuffs pillows against the doors and “puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords.“

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/06/edward-snowden-the-nsa-leaker-comes-forward.html

[flamingdem]

21. .

[DisgustipatedinCA]

11. He explains pretty clearly in the Guardian piece

[roamer65]

13. Could be a case of Chinese espionage.

This one is smelling a lot like the Christopher Boyce - Andrew Daulton Lee case from the 1970's.

[FarCenter]

17. My take -- He's going to need money; the Chinese have money.

For a more considered opinion - The NSA Leaker Being In Hong Kong Sets Up A Very Uncomfortable Diplomatic Stand-Off

Read more: http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/06/whats_the_deal_with_hong_kong.php

[roamer65]

20. Sure, he's either already bought or will be bought by Beijing.

Spies usually try to run for the country that has hired or will hire them.