Expressing "frustration and disappointment" over the decision of the Hong Kong authorities to allow American whistleblower Edward Snowden to fly out of the Chinese territory, the White House today said that the move will have an impact on US-China relationship.
"We see this as a setback, in terms of their effort to build relationship, in terms of their effort to build trust," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, noting that the US does not buy the Chinese argument or that of the Hong Kong authorities that they could not fulfill the American requests in this matter legally.
"With regards to your question about the Chinese government, we are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official. This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China relationship," Carney said in response to a question.
"I'm not going to speculate about the repercussions, but the Chinese have emphasized the importance of building mutual trust. We think that they have dealt that effort a serious setback. If we cannot count on them to honor their legal extradition obligations, then there is a problem. And that is a point we are making to them very directly," he said.
Hong Kong authorities, he alleged, "deliberately decided" to ignore the American request for a "provisional arrest" of Snowden pending his extradition.
"We believe where he is now. There is ongoing conversation with the authorities about that. We have asked the Russians too look at the options they have with regard to return of Snowden to the United States. It is our understanding that Snowden remains in Russia," he said.
At no point in all of US discussions through Friday did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US provisional arrest request.
"In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling," Carney said.
"Since June 10, when we learned that Snowden was in Hong Kong, US authorities have been in continual contact with their Hong Kong counterparts at the working and senior levels. (The US) Attorney General Eric Holder placed a phone call on June 19 with his counterpart, the Hong Kong secretary of justice, stressing the importance of the matter and urging Hong Kong to honor our request for Snowden's arrest," he said.
