Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's clear outline of Ireland's concern at the imposition of this law on Hong Kong. However, we must give a clear manifestation of that concern. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and, today, New Zealand have suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong in protest against the deeply concerning imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. New Zealand's Foreign Minister said today that New Zealand can no longer trust that Hong Kong's criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from China. It should be borne in mind that New Zealand has very strong trade links with China. In fact, China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, involving some US$21 billion annually. New Zealand is putting this human rights issue to the fore over all other matters. I ask the Minister not to continue simply considering this matter, but to take action and suspend this agreement.

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