“Hong Kong’s extradition proposal could undermine rule of law and competitiveness, says Tara Joseph of the American Chamber of Commerce”, 19 May 2019

Hong Kong’s leader should drop a contentious extradition bill to avoid hurting the city’s rule of law and hard-earned competitiveness, its most influential American business network has urged, amid escalating tensions that have polarised the city.

Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), offered the advice to Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in an exclusive interview with the Post, warning that pushing the bill through would risk “shooting Hong Kong in the foot”…

Joseph… called on the government to withdraw the bill.

“Hong Kong’s strength is based around the rule of law and its global reputation for valuing that rule of law and ‘one country, two systems’. Please don’t damage that … We would like to see [the extradition bill] dropped,” she said.

 “Hong Kong is known as a centre of excellence. There are many companies and businesses and people who would like to live and feel comfortable in Hong Kong. Damaging that is shooting Hong Kong in the foot.”

She said that, as far as she knew, there were fears among her members that the bill would hurt the city’s competitiveness, arguing that pushing ahead with the bill would undermine investor confidence.

“From a business perspective, there is widespread concern about the extradition bill as it is being seen as further chipping away at Hong Kong’s autonomy under one country, two systems,” she said…

 “This concern, whether it is perception or reality, is already having a negative impact on Hong Kong’s reputation as a global business centre. If people do not trust Hong Kong as an independent legal jurisdiction, then business will suffer,” she said. “To go forward with a bill like this is going to damage that type of sentiment. Can it really be worth it?”

AmCham, comprising 1,500 corporate members, is the biggest international business chamber in Hong Kong…