Name: Why Hong Kong Erupted in Chaos
Uploaded: 2019-06-16T22:56:38.000Z
Duration: 2 min 12 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hong Kong's government is attempting to pass a law that would for the first time allow extradition to mainland China.

The proposal is cause massive opposition and a series of protests.

Riot police have used tear gas and rubber bullets on the demonstrators.

Still the administration is pressing ahead.

The bill was proposed by the government in February.

It covers mainland China and other jurisdictions that could include Taiwan.

It was sparked by the case of a Hong Kong man accused of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan.

He was arrested in Hong Kong and convicted of money-laundering.

But couldn't be sent back to Taiwan for trial because there's no legal framework to do so.

The government said the new law will make sure Hong Kong doesn't become a haven for fugitives.

But opponents are concerned that it could open the door for anyone including political dissidents or civil rights activists who might risk being arrested on Fabricated charges in Hong Kong and sent to the mainland to face unfair trials.

Apart from Hong Kong citizens, the law would also apply to foreign residents and even people passing through on business or as tourists.

It's one of the latest moves under Chinese President Xi Jinping that is viewed as chipping away at Hong Kong's autonomy which guarantees free speech and capitalist markets.

This time protesters are hoping to repeat the success of a demonstration in 2003 which led the city to scrap a national security law and contributed to the resignation of the then chief executive.

But it might also end up like the umbrella movement in 2014 which failed to achieve universal suffrage after student-led protests occupied city streets for 79 days.