A fugitive billionaire has vowed to launch a legal challenge against Hong Kong's controversial plan to sign an extradition agreement with Macau, Taiwan and mainland China, his lawyers said Monday, adding he has fled the financial hub.
Lau has applied for leave to legally challenge the government's extradition proposal, according to a court application obtained by AFP, which also states that he has chosen to"exile himself from Hong Kong". The application asks the court to declare that any extradition agreement cannot be applied retroactively and argues that the city's leader Carrie Lam is being granted too much discretionary power to decide cases under the proposal.Thousands of protesters hit the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday to demonstrate against the new extradition proposal, which will be discussed in the city's legislature on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong government backtracked last week under pressure and exempted nine primarily economic crimes from the list of offences that could be covered by the new extradition law.