UK suspends Hong Kong extradition amid China tension

London : Britain’s government suspended its extradition arrangements with Hong Kong on Monday, after China imposed a tough new national security law, the Associated Press reported.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was quoted saying, he had concerns about the new law and about alleged human rights abuses in China in particularly in regard to the treatment of the Uighur minority. 

“We will protect our vital interests, we will stand up for our values and we will hold to China to its international obligations,″ said Raab.

It may be mentioned here that Raab followed the example of the United States, Australia and Canada by suspending extradition arrangements with the territory.

The review of the extradition measures comes only days after Britain backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network amid security concerns fuelled by rising tensions between Beijing and Western powers.

Johnson’s government has criticized China’s decision to impose a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong. The U.K. has accused the Beijing government of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which the U.K. returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of the community.

Beijing has objected to the move. China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, recently described the offer as gross interference in Chinese affairs.