China suspends extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and UK

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced the treaties’ suspension on 28 July. Photograph: Tingshu Wang/Reuters. China has suspended Hong Kong’s extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, and the UK, in a tit-for-tat move after similar decisions by those countries over its controversial new security law. On Tuesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said Hong Kong was suspending criminal assistance agreements, including extradition, accusing those countries of“politicising judicial cooperation”. Canada, Australia and the UK cancelled extradition agreements with the semi-autonomous territory after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that critics fear will be used against government critics.