HONG KONG, June 15 (NNN-KYODO) – Hong Kong lawmakers have decided to cancel two days of planned meetings from Monday to deliberate on a controversial extradition bill, local media reported Friday, effectively delaying a vote that was expected to happen later next week.
The decision follows violent clashes between protesters and police earlier this week over the bill, which could extend Chinese influence and undermine liberties in the territory.
Sixty-one hours had been allocated for lawmakers to discuss the bill, but with debate suspended for three successive days this week, it is increasingly unlikely they would be able to finish scrutinizing it before next Thursday when a vote could have been held.
Earlier in the day, the South China Morning Post quoted a top adviser to Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam as saying, “I think it is impossible to discuss (the bill) under such confrontation. It would be very difficult.”
“At the very least we should not escalate the antagonism,” Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan was also quoted as saying.
The clashes Wednesday around the legislative compound over the bill left around 80 people injured, including nearly two dozen police. The police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowds.
Amid a backlash against the law amendment that would allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China, a protest organizer said it is planning to stage a demonstration on Sunday.
Opponents of the bill say that if it is passed, Chinese authorities could abuse it to crack down on pro-democracy activists, journalists and anyone critical of the Communist Party-controlled government.
The People’s Daily, a mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, criticized the Hong Kong protesters, calling them “rioters that will break the future” of the territory.
The bill has also sparked concerns among foreign countries, including Britain and the United States, that their citizens living in or visiting Hong Kong would be put at risk of extradition.
On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers re-introduced the bipartisan Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would require the State Department to assess Hong Kong’s autonomy annually to justify continuing special trade status afforded it by the United States.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing on Friday, “Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. No foreign country has the right to interfere.”
The ministry said later in the day that Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned a senior U.S. embassy official to call on the United States to stop meddling in internal affairs.
China is concerned that the Hong Kong issue will be raised at the Group of 20 summit slated to take place in Osaka at the end of this month, foreign affairs experts say.
Last Sunday, more than 1 million people, by some estimates, turned out for one of the largest mass protests seen since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Hong Kong has established extradition agreements with some 20 countries since the 1997 handover.
The proposed amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance would allow the return of those accused of crimes to jurisdictions with which it has no extradition deal, such as mainland China and Taiwan.
