China News Service, Hong Kong, August 12th. In accordance with the instructions of the Central People’s Government, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has issued notices to the German Consulate General in Hong Kong and the French Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau on August 12 to suspend the implementation of the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China". The Agreement between the Government and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Transfer of Fugitive Offenders, and the pending agreement between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the French Republic on the Transfer of Accused or Convicted Persons has been suspended.
According to the news of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s Information Office on the same day, the spokesperson of the Special Administrative Region Government stated that it is an international practice to pass laws to safeguard national security. Both Germany and France have enacted relevant laws, but they unilaterally suspended the implementation of the surrender of fugitive offenders agreement signed with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and suspended the approval of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the pretext of the "National Security Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". The agreement blatantly interferes in China's internal affairs and violates international law and the basic norms of international relations. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government firmly opposes this.
The spokesperson criticized the politicization of judicial cooperation by Germany and France, which undermined the basis for judicial cooperation between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Germany and France respectively. To this end, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, in accordance with the instructions of the Central People's Government, suspended the implementation of the Hong Kong-German Agreement on the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders and shelved the Hong Kong-German Agreement on the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders.
It is reported that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed agreements on the surrender of fugitives with Germany and France in May 2006 and May 2017 respectively. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Germany's Agreement on the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders entered into force in April 2009, while the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and France's Agreement on the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders has not yet entered into force. (Finish)