The source of the National Security Agency leaks Edward Snowden may not be safe from extradition in Hong Kong, the country’s former security secretary told the Guardian Monday.
“I think it would be wisest for him to leave Hong Kong,” Regina Ip told the Guardian, “because we do have bilateral agreements with the U.S. and we are duty bound to comply with these agreements. Hong Kong is not a legal vacuum as Mr. Snowden might have thought.”
However, Hong Kong university professor Simon Young told that newspaper that now may be the “best moment in time” for Snowden to seek refuge in Hong Kong: in wake of a recent court appeal, the region’s asylum laws require the government to independently determine an individual’s refugee claim.
Watch Ip’s interview below:
