Joseph Lau’s son refuses to comment on extradition treaty

Lau Ming-wai, son of Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung, said that he could not share his opinion on the Hong Kong government’s plan to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.

The Hong Kong Security Bureau has proposed to allow extraditions to Macau, Taiwan and mainland China on a case-by- case basis.

While attending an online show earlier this week, Lau Ming- wai was asked a “sensitive” question, which is his view of the aforementioned extradition plan.

Previously, after news of the proposal was revealed, a newspaper pointed out that if the amendment was finally passed, Joseph Lau Luen-hung, who was convicted by a Macau court for being involved in Ao Man Long’s corruption case, may be required to be extradited to Macau to serve his sentence.

However, Lau Ming- wai said that “because [the proposal] involves me and my father, no matter what I say will not be especially neutral.”

Once the amendment is passed, fugitives who take refuge in one city to avoid punishment in the other may be repatriated. 

The mutual legal assistance scheme between Macau and Hong Kong will allow for the collection and exchange of information on criminal matters.

Backdating the enforcement of the treaty could allow Macau to finally mete out justice to two Hong Kong tycoons, Joseph Lau Luen-hung and Steven Lo Kit- sing. The pair were convicted in Macau in relation to bribing the former Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long, to secure land for a luxury property project. They escaped their prison sentences by residing in Hong Kong. JZ