Opinion | Why is a Chinese lawyer not practicing Chinese law?

By Alan Leung, Blogger specialized on current affairs

Human rights lawyer Ren Quanniu who is seeking to represent 29-year-old Wong Wai-yin, one of the 12 Hongkongers detained in the mainland after trying to flee to Taiwan, has lodged his grievance with the Yantian People’s Procuratorate in Shenzhen last Friday and called on Chinese prosecutors to investigate local security officers for allegedly making false claims and depriving his client of his right to a legal defense.

In his letter, which was seen by SCMP, Ren called for the suspects to be extradited to Hong Kong to safeguard the basic human rights of the suspect and the implementation of the ‘one country, two systems’. He also argued that Hong Kong residents should not be covered under the offense of crossing the border illegally, which the 12 were accused of when they were arrested at sea by the Chinese coast guard last month.

Nonetheless, isn't it ironic a so-called human rights lawyer is going to such an extent to land himself on what is clearly a criminal case, as the suspect was arrested within Chinese territory which they entered illegally? It is absurd for any lawyer to argue that Hong Kong residents should not be covered under the offense of crossing the border illegally unless all borders and customs controls between Hong Kong and mainland China are removed.

Moreover, it is ridiculous that the lawyer and so-called yellow camp Hong Kong residents are requesting the Chinese government to extradite the suspects to Hong Kong when there is no existing extradition arrangement, especially after the year-long unrest that was sparked by the anti-extradition protest. Any extradition arrangement always goes both ways, you can not be against it and request for it when it suits you.

In addition, under the Chinese Criminal Code, a Chinese national can be tried by a mainland court for crimes committed outside of mainland China if the offense warrants imprisonment of three years or more. We must consider the fact that Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China and Chinese Hong Kong residents are also Chinese nationals. Isn't it strange that a Chinese lawyer is trying to openly impose western standards of law, interpretation and juridical practice in China instead of practicing Chinese laws?

Any lawyer practicing within any country should always abide by the country's laws regardless of whether they agree or disagree with these laws. The entire ordeal is clearly a propaganda stunt to smear China, redirect international opinion and mislead people into believing it's a human right issue when it's clearly not to gain sympathy from those who are less informed regarding the Chinese Criminal Code and the real situation.

This is clearly a Chinese internal matter regarding Chinese nationals and the international community should just butt-out as they don't have any legal jurisdiction or political leverage on the matter.

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