Citizens face extradition under new law

A draft of China’s controversial new security law allows Hong Kong citizens to be extradited for trial on the mainland, according to proBeijing politicians. Beijing is bypassing Hong Kong’s own legislature to impose a law that Britain says breaches the terms of the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ agreement under which the territory was returned to China in 1997. Mass protests flared in Hong Kong last year over proposals to extradite its citizens to China but the new overarching security law being imposed now appears to include new extradition powers. According to state media, the draft legislation also proscribes separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion in the former British colony. It is expected to be approved within weeks by the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. G7 foreign ministers urged the Chinese government to rethink the plan, saying in a joint statement that it would ‘‘risk seriously undermining’’ the principles under which Hong Kong has been governed. A draft law has been presented to the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, which is meeting this week. It is expected to be formally approved and passed into law within weeks. The draft has not been made public but a senior Beijing politician said it was framed to allow mainland jurisdiction over ‘‘some extreme grave cases under extremely special conditions’’. Tam Yiu-chung, a pro-Beijing politician who sits on the national parliament’s standing committee, said Hong Kong residents could be sent to the mainland to be tried on charges of endangering national security. ‘‘If Beijing thinks it’s necessary, such cases won’t be handled by Hong Kong courts, but there’s the option to send the cases to the mainland,’’ Tam said.