Extradition to US? ?Wait and watch? for China on Snowden

BEIJING: China has given the impression it will not readily accept a US request for the extradition of whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has exposed Washington's cyber monitoring activities, from his present location in Hong Kong. There are signs the Hong Kong administration will neither readily accept such a request nor reject it outright.

"Unfortunately, I have no information right now to provide to you," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday in reply to questions from journalists about how Beijing will handle the issue.

China, which has been the butt of US criticism about cyber attacks, is using Snowden's revelations about Washington's cyber snooping to press for a binding agreement on mutual controls.

"We are opposed to all forms of hacker and cyber attacks," Hua said. "We also believe that the international community should carry out constructive dialogue and cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and mutual trust."

Sources said the ministry was keeping its options open about how to deal with Snowden, and might use the opportunity to drive through an important political deal with Washington.

Experts in Chinese government think-tanks have suggested the affair is bound to further strain the relationship between China and the US, which will possibly ask the Hong Kong administration to hand over Snowden, a US citizen. There is an extradition treaty between the US and Hong Kong.

But the sources said Hong Kong was unlikely to take a decision without approval from the Communist leaders in Beijing. Besides, the Chinese government is entitled to block any extradition move if issues of national security and foreign policy are involved.

China is also asking for an international order to control cyber hacking.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/c/33039/f/533996/s/2d431c3a/l/0Ltimesofindia0Bindiatimes0N0Cworld0Cchina0CExtradition0Eto0EUS0EWait0Eand0Ewatch0Efor0EChina0Eon0ESnowden0Carticleshow0C20A5820A630Bcms/story01.htm

amanda knox Carolyn Moos Danny Brown The Following amy schumer amy schumer Real Madrid