HONG KONG, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday called for other countries' respect for the rule of law of the HKSAR and its normal legislative process relating to anti-crime cooperation.
"Combating crimes through cooperation is the common need of the international community and serves the interests of all parties," a spokesperson of the commissioner's office said in response to comments by certain countries on the HKSAR government's proposal to amend Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance.
"The relevant countries should respect the rule of law of the HKSAR and its normal legislative process," the spokesperson added.
The commissioner's office hopes the relevant parties would attach importance to the statements made by the HKSAR government on multiple occasions that the objective of the amendments is to enable Hong Kong to conduct case-based cooperation with jurisdictions in the world that have no effective long term arrangement with Hong Kong on juridical assistance in criminal matters, the spokesperson said.
The standards followed by the HKSAR government are fully consistent with common practice of fugitive transfer, the spokesperson said, adding that the HKSAR government is studying the public views it received over the amendments.
