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I don't see a downside for Hong Kong/China in rejecting an extradition request. Cynically, it's leverage and they'll have the moral high ground in the eyes of
by bitserf 13y ago
I don't see a downside for Hong Kong/China in rejecting an extradition request.
Cynically, it's leverage and they'll have the moral high ground in the eyes of the world.
- JDShu 13y agoBeing in HK for the summer, I honestly don't get the impression that anybody here cares about this particular issue.
- pyre 13y agoThe extradition decision will be done at a high-level for someone like Snowden. Whether or not the common citizens of HK care about the NSA hoopla doesn't really factor into it.
- potatolicious 13y agoIt'll be done at a high level, but PR will be a large part of it. The US is a valued trading partner of both HK and China. One doesn't generally go about pissing off their major trading partners unless there's something in it for them. There are really only two things Snowden can give HK or China: - Further intelligence. This seems unlikely if his story is what he says it is. - A giant PR coup domestically, putting the Chinese government, for once, on the right side of a human rights/democracy/transparency issue. That second part depends largely on how much the general population can be made to care about the issue. The Chinese won't hang onto a highly wanted American criminal that the US federal government desperately wants tried, not unless they can extract something out of the deal.
- buro9 13y agoThat second one is a benefit not to PR to the general population, but as an underline to Chinese statements in arenas such as the UN which seek to defend their practises (censorship, monitoring) in the face of very hypocritical statements by the US. The cost of doing this is negligible, yet the value to them as a PR coup on a political level is quite high.
- ximeng 13y agoWell it made the Apple Daily: http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/international/20130610/35074756/fbGoogle%E4%B8%BB%E5%8B%95%E4%BE%9B%E7%BE%8E%E6%83%85%E8%92%90 http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/internationa...
- nir 13y agoAnyone who follows China's foreign policy knows that it's entirely driven by economic interests (eg, supplying weapons to Sudan during the Darfur genocide, breaking the UN embargo). From a pure economic standpoint, the US government could easily make it more beneficial to give up Snowden then to keep him.
- crdoconnor 13y agoIt's not purely economic. China stands to gain in intelligence stakes by making HK a desirable destination for US defectors. Having a high profile example to point to will make convincing others easier.