Over 130,000 Protest China Extradition Amendments

Hong Kong protesters say proposed amendments that would allow extraditions to China threatens rule of law

More than 130,000 people showed up on the streets of Hong Kong on April 28 to oppose proposed amendments to the city’s extradition laws that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China—far greater than the expected turnout of 12,000. Police gave a much more conservative estimate, saying that at the parade’s peak, 22,800 people attended. But The Epoch Times’ Hong Kong reporters saw many people continually joining in the parade as the crowd made its way through the city. Currently, Hong Kong has signed individual extradition agreement with 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

The newly proposed extradition laws, first announced in February, would allow criminal suspects from any region—including mainland China—to seek extradition without the city’s unicameral legislature, the Legislative Council (LegCo), signing off on the requests. The city’s head of government, the chief executive, would be able to approve the extradition requests directly. Hong Kong residents, business groups, and international rights groups have expressed concerns that, given the Chinese regime’s disregard for rule of law, the changes could allow Beijing to charge and extradite its critics with impunity. This weekend’s parade follows a March 31 protest that drew about 12,000. Parade organizer Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), a Hong Kong pro-democracy group, vowed to organize more activities until the Hong Kong government shelves the proposals.

The Parade The parade began in late afternoon on Saturday, snaking its way from Causeway Bay to the Central Government Complex, the headquarters of the Hong Kong government at Admiralty. LegCo members, democracy group activists, celebrities, and ordinary citizens participated. At the front of the parade was a a big square banner that read: “Oppose the extradition of suspects to mainland China, oppose the evil law, reverse the amendments on Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.”

Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, Hong Kong political scientist and former professor at the City University of Hong Kong told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that he was concerned the amendments would erode the legal process in Hong Kong, a city that has enjoyed relative autonomy as a former British colony. “Once the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance is passed, each of us may be extradited to mainland China for trial… We won’t have the basic right to a fair trial at that time,” he said. Many held signs that called for the current Chief Executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, to resign.

People also held yellow umbrellas, a symbol that came to represent the Umbrella Movement of 2014, when scores of Hong Kongers occupied the streets of the city’s main financial district to call for universal suffrage in how the city votes for the chief executive. The protest lasted 79 days. This past week, a Hong Kong court jailed four leaders in the Umbrella Movement—concluding a month-long trial that sentenced a total of nine activists who were involved in the 2014 protests. Parade attendees carried the umbrellas to express solidarity with the activists.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-130000-protest-china-extradition-amendments_2898083.html

>>6352310

That, and I haven't checked yet…but I also wonder if there is a reference here with the umbrellas.

Florida Senate Passes Bill to Ban Sanctuary Cities; Governor Expected to Sign

The Florida Senate has passed a bill slated to ban so-called sanctuary city policies, and the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, is expected to sign it. The new bill, dubbed SB 168, passed in a 22–18 vote on April 26, with only one Republican voting against the bill.

Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, who introduced the bill, said it re-establishes the “rule of law.” Sanctuary cities are locales that have enacted measures to prevent local officials from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. The bill requires state entities, local governmental entities, and law enforcement agencies to use their “best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.” It also prohibits restrictions from entities and agencies “on taking certain actions with respect to information regarding a person’s immigration status.” Gruters, the state GOP chairman, said the bill only targets “the worst of the worst” and would only affect illegal immigrants who’ve been arrested and are the subject of a federal detainer. Sen. Tom Lee, another Republican, said sanctuary city policies are a slap in the face for those who enter the United States legally. “I think we’re a nation of laws, and I think allowing porous borders that have people coming over here in defiance to our laws is somewhat of an abomination to all the people who have come here legally,” Lee said, according to the Herald Tribune.

The bill’s passage in the Senate came days after the House passed its own version, dubbed HB 527, on April 24. Among the differences between the two chambers’ bills are penalties for violating the policy: The House includes fines for officials who adopt sanctuary policies, and the Senate doesn’t. Local officials under the House version of the bill could be fined up to $5,000 a day for each day that passes with a sanctuary-city policy in place. It also adds a rule that elected officials who permit such policies may be suspended or removed from office.

“This bill is not about removing illegals from the state of Florida. This bill is about protecting the citizens in the state of Florida,” Republican Rep. Michael Caruso said about the House bill’s passage. The House had tried to pass a similar ban the past four years but it died in the Senate, according to the Miami Herald. Gruters said that having the governor make sanctuary cities a major talking point has played a significant role in the bill’s success. “That’s why this is moving forward,” Gruters said previously. “It has opened up some doors that weren’t previously available.”

President Donald Trump, a firm critic of sanctuary cities, said weeks ago that he’s considering a plan to transport aliens who are apprehended after illegally crossing the southwest border exclusively to sanctuary cities, saying it should make advocates of sanctuary zones “very happy.” Meanwhile, the administration is seeking to enforce existing immigration laws to the fullest extent.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/florida-senate-passes-bill-to-ban-sanctuary-cities-governor-expected-to-sign_2897827.html