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When Germany granted me asylum in 2018 and I became the first Hong Kong citizen to be recognized as a political refugee in Europe, it did so on the basis that if I returned to Hong Kong, I would be jailed for my political beliefs.

I can imagine that even the federal government did not expect to witness the mass arrests of pro-democracy candidates and organizers three years later, the purge of the Hong Kong legislative council, the arrest of foreigners and the introduction of a draconian national security law, overseeing judges handpicked by the chief executive.

The recent arrests in Hong Kong show how quickly the rule of law, autonomy, democracy and freedoms of the city have been dismantled by Beijing in the ten months since the National Security Law came into force.

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In response, the EU, together with its allies, swiftly called for the extradition treaties with Hong Kong to be suspended and approved a package of measures that included a rescue program for Hong Kong residents.

But when summer was over and winter came, the promised measures did not take place.

This is unmistakable, especially with regard to the ongoing extradition contracts between the EU member states and the People's Republic.

In view of the tight deadline for the conclusion of Brexit and the ongoing fight against Covid-19, the EU leaders could be forgiven for having postponed the agreed measures.

But for pro-democracy activists like me, whose names were recently put on wanted list by Hong Kong police for violating national security law, the delay poses a serious threat.

France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria all have extradition treaties with China.

So if I exercise my right to free movement within the EU and visit these countries, I may run the risk of extradition and indictment under national security law.

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National governments can, of course, object that they could simply ignore the arrest warrant the Communist Party issued against me and other pro-democratic activists.

However, there are also political considerations to be considered here.

This is particularly evident when one considers the significant investments that the Chinese state has made in Europe over the past decade and the influence that China has gained in the EU as a result.

Take, for example, Spain, which was pressured by China in 2019 and extradited 94 Taiwanese indicted for telecommunications fraud to China rather than Taiwan.

The Spanish government stated that the reason why they could not be deported to their homeland was that they were bound by the "one-China policy".

However, Taiwan has rightly noted that Spain is complicit in human rights violations by authorizing deportation to China, where these people do not face due process and are likely to be tortured.

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Sweden does not have such an extradition treaty with Beijing.

However, this has not stopped the Swedish government from pursuing its current plans to deport Chinese dissident Baolige Wurina and his wife and their two children to mainland China.

This is despite the fact that Baolige has lived in Sweden with his family for ten years after he fled the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region because he was persecuted as a legal activist by the Chinese authorities.

He continues his activist efforts with regular protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Sweden.

Baolige's case is currently being heard in the Court of Appeal for Migration.

The threat of extradition does not only affect Chinese citizens, however, as the detention of an American lawyer makes clear.

He was imprisoned on the basis of the national security law, coupled with the law's right to global criminal jurisdiction with regard to activist activities abroad.

His example shows that foreign citizens are not safe from the draconian law either.

The danger that the national security law poses for European citizens was made visible by another report: The government in Hong Kong is to investigate the possibility of extraditing two Danish MPs who are being charged, the former pro-democracy MP Ted Hui bei To have helped flee Hong Kong into exile.

The two Danish politicians, Uffe Elbæk and Katarina Ammitzbøll, organized a meeting with Ted in Denmark, which helped him to obtain legal permission to leave the country and to enable him to travel from Denmark to Great Britain.

With 53 people recently arrested under the national security law and the Hong Kong government announced that it is considering arrest warrants and extradition requests for Danish MPs, it would be appropriate for European countries to reconsider their extradition treaties.

If not for pro-democratic activists like me, it is to protect the freedom of expression and the integrity of their own citizens.

If the impending danger is not recognized, Europe’s reputation for human rights and as a model for democracy would only be damaged.

It would be obvious that Europe is a dangerous place for those who want to speak out against the Communist Party's human rights abuses.

Translated from the English by Tobias Nikolajewski