UK cancels extradition treaty with Hong Kong, counter-threat China

The United Kingdom has announced the cancellation of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb said in a statement on Monday that the move would be in response to China's imposition of national security laws on Hong Kong. He said the UK would follow Australia, Canada and the United States in response to China's unilateral stance on national security law. If the announcement goes into effect, the agreement with Hong Kong, which has been in force for more than 30 years, will be revoked. This was reported by The Guardian. According to the report, China has strongly criticized the announcement of the United Kingdom. He warned not to cancel the agreement. The Chinese ambassador to London has accused the United Kingdom of interfering in China's internal affairs.

He also warned that the UK would suffer the consequences. The move comes amid ongoing tensions between the two countries over limiting the use of Chinese technology giant Huawei's equipment on the UK's Five-G network. It is feared that this will further increase tensions between the two countries. A report in The Guardian's Sunday edition of The Observer quoted sources as saying that the British government had decided on Huawei's equipment under pressure from US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Mike Peppe will also visit the United Kingdom soon to discuss trade deals with China, the Five-G and post-Brexit. He arrived there on Monday night, local time. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom canceled the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, angering China. In addition, the British government increased its arms embargo on China in the wake of the 1979 massacre in Tiananmen Square. Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to London, has accused the United Kingdom of meddling in China's internal affairs by announcing the cancellation of the new agreement. He says the UK has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, violated international law and violated basic rules governing international relations. Xiaoming added that China has never interfered in the UK's internal affairs. The UK should do the same for China. Otherwise they will have to suffer the consequences. According to the extradition treaty, the British government would hand over a person residing in the UK to the Hong Kong authorities if he was identified as a criminal. Similarly, Hong Kong was also handing over suspected criminals to the British authorities. Critics, however, fear that Hong Kong could hand over suspected criminals to Chinese authorities through a new national security law.