Written by: Nury Vittachi

A suspect in a Toronto murder is walking free in the Hong Kong SAR, untouchable by the long arm of the law. And it's all Canada's own fault.

The suspect is 47-year-old Zhixiong Marko Hu, wanted in connection with the death of realtor Anita Mui Yukying, 56, whose burned remains were found earlier this month.

He recently fled to Hong Kong, York Region police told the media in a statement. But how can he be brought back to face charges? Canada has tied its own hands, by suspending its extradition arrangement with the Hong Kong SAR in 2020. Canadian police have said they will contact Interpol to issue a “Red Notice”.

But here's what they didn't say: the standard procedure is for Interpol to help Canada by triggering extradition arrangements with the foreign jurisdiction – yet that option is no longer available.

Realtor vanishes

Realtor Anita Mui (no relation to the late Hong Kong singer of the same name) went missing earlier this month. Mui had gone out to a property and failed to return. Her family made a report to police on August 9, 2024. She lived in Markham, a city in the York region of Ontario.

Shortly afterwards, local police said they believe she went to an address in Stouffville, Ontario, before vanishing. The disappearance remained a mystery until three days later, when her charred remains were found in Parry Sound, Ontario.

Last week, Canadian media reported that three teens between 16 and 17 years old had been arrested in connection with her disappearance. One or more of them had apparently used the dead woman's credit cards. At the time, there was speculation that the charges against them could be widened.

But then came the twist. A follow-up report made no mention of the teens. Police earlier this week said they were now looking for an adult male in connection with the death. York Region police named Hu as the suspect, and said he was facing a charge of first-degree murder. Police said he had left the area and issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest.

The plot changed again a few hours ago when investigators said he had flown to Hong Kong. This led to a realization among people watching the case that politics may prevent the investigation from proceeding as it should. Canada cancelled its extradition treaty with the Hong Kong SAR in 2020.

G7 recommendation

The story of that damaged legal relationship is bizarre. A financial committee of the G-7, a group of rich countries led by the United States, recommended for several years that Hong Kong upgrade its narrow extradition laws to include more nations, including neighbouring jurisdictions.

But when Hong Kong lawmakers prepared an amendment that did just that, a mysterious and massive disinformation campaign was launched saying that the move was a Beijing ploy to arrest dissidents.

This was despite the fact that the new law was drawn up by British-trained lawyers in Hong Kong and followed a United Nations' recommended model for extradition laws and follows global human rights pledges under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It clearly limited itself to a short list of serious crimes such as murder, specifically excluded all political crimes, and had a 12-to-24-month program of reviews and appeals to ensure that accused people's rights were fully defended.

The law would in effect replace UK laws that allowed Hong Kong courts to speedily deport people to Mainland China by simply driving them to the border in vans and releasing them on the other side of the line.

But that's not what people were told.

Disinformation and bombs

The torrent of disinformation and a huge flood of cash from overseas led to violent 2019 Hong Kong protests, which caused billions of dollars' worth of damage and led to bomb factories producing terrorism-grade explosives. A plot to produce a mass casualty event in the densely packed Wan Chai district was foiled by police just hours before it was put into operation in December 2019.

To save the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong asked Beijing not to interfere with the riots. It was a wise move. The protests shrank to almost nothing after bank accounts holding cash sent from overseas agents were closed down and the funding evaporated in the final six weeks of 2019.

The following year, a western-style security law outlawing overseas interference was passed in Hong Kong—written in Beijing after consultation with 200 Hong Kong community leaders. As a "human rights protest", Canada cut its legal ties with the city, despite the fact that the new law did not mention human rights, but echoed western laws, and was objectively far milder than its Canadian, US or UK equivalents.

The Hong Kong law was reinforced with an ordinance, also modelled on international statutes—and which was also criticized, unfairly in the eyes of many local lawyers. "Indeed, the Ordinance, although robust, is remarkable for the lengths to which it goes to protect human rights," said law professor Grenville Cross, former director of public prosecutions of Hong Kong. "It goes far further than is customary in other common law jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US."

Again, the western mainstream media widely misrepresented what was happening in Hong Kong, while lawyers in the city warned that harm would ensue.

Own goal

They were right. By cancelling extradition treaties with the Hong Kong SAR, Canada and other US allies have harmed societies on both sides. The moves damage Hong Kong's best-in-Asia legal system and those of any country with a need to extradite criminals from Hong Kong. Canada's action meant that criminals in that nation have an easy and secure hideaway reachable with a single flight across the Pacific. And it looks set to open the streets of low-crime Hong Kong SAR with unwanted criminal suspects from western nations.

Extradition arrangements, specialists say, are the foundation stone for the policing of modern international crime. Making legal decisions for political gain destroys the rule of law, said Grenville Cross.

Canada is experiencing the truth of that.

Nury Vittachi is a writer in Hong Kong and editor of fridayeveryday.com

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