Five Eyes expediently gang up on Hong Kong: China Daily editorial

In a fully justified move, China on Tuesday announced it was suspending all extradition and judiciary assistance treaties between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

These are necessary countermeasures against the three countries, which, following the lead of the United States in opposing the introduction of a national security law for Hong Kong, unilaterally suspended extradition and judicial assistance treaties with the SAR earlier this month.

New Zealand on Tuesday also announced the suspension of its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, citing the same pretext of the national security law, making it the last country to do so in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance led by the US. It too will likely incur a similar response from China under the principle of reciprocity.

As members of the Five Eyes, the four countries may feel obliged to stand beside the US in its containment strategy against China. Yet by doing so, these countries have only displayed their hypocrisy and double standards.

These countries' suspension of their respective agreements with Hong Kong on fugitives transfer is a blatant attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs as well as a serious violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations.

It also marks a major setback in judicial cooperation between the SAR and these countries as the suspensions have undoubtedly removed the foundation for judicial cooperation.

By politicizing judicial cooperation, the Five Eyes countries are simply encouraging fugitives to flee overseas and escape law enforcement, which should be condemned by all law-abiding people.

Their pretext to walk away from their duties in safeguarding the spirit of the law does not hold water either, as every sovereign country has the right to defend its national security through the enactment of laws. Any responsible government will do what China has done to close the loopholes in national security and safeguard its long-term stability and prosperity.

China has said that Tuesday's decision was just the first shot in its retaliation against foreign meddling in Hong Kong affairs. It will not succumb to Western countries' coercion and has a basket of measures to fight back against foreign interference in issues that concern its core interests.

The US' bid to form a coalition against China with its allies has increasingly become a disturbing and destabilizing factor in international relations and cooperation. The world should beware the damage that is being done to multilateralism by the US using its alliance system to both maintain its global hegemony and undermine other countries' legitimate rights and interests.