Hong Kong cannot extradite Tates without UK or Romania requests, lawmakers say
Online influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who both face rape and human‑trafficking charges in Romania and the United Kingdom, were reported to have entered Hong Kong over the weekend, sparking heated discussion online.
A screengrab from a video of Andrew Tate (right) and his brother, Tristan Tate, outside of a restaurant in Hong Kong. (Photo: X/Cobratate)
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Hong Kong lawmakers have said Andrew and Tristan Tate cannot be extradited to the UK or Romania - where they face prosecution - without formal requests from those governments, as the infamous influencer brothers continued their visit to the city on Monday (Mar 16).
The legislators also rejected claims that the city had become a haven for fugitives following the suspension of extradition treaties with several Western countries, including the United Kingdom, in 2020.
The controversial influencers entered Hong Kong over the weekend, sparking heated discussion online.
Andrew, 39, responded on social media on Monday, dismissing calls for his extradition. “If England doesn’t extradite me soon I’ll have to fly there myself and I think the taxpayer should pay for my flight if the government wanna talk to me so badly,” he wrote.
Videos shared on social media showed the brothers surrounded by crowds in Lan Kwai Fong, where onlookers were seen taking photographs and selfies with them.
A source close to the Tates told the South China Morning Post that the brothers had “always wanted to visit Hong Kong” and might have business interests in the city.
On Monday, the pair continued exploring the city.
In Andrew Tate’s latest post on X at around 9pm, he shared a photo showing himself and his brother standing beside a sign on Marsh Road, near its junction with Hennessy Road in Wan Chai.
Lawmaker Joe Chan Cho-kwong, a former police officer, said the force could not arrest or extradite the brothers without requests from either the UK or Romania.
“There are still mechanisms as they could reach out to Hong Kong police through Interpol,” he said. “If the UK and Romania do not do so, there is nothing that Hong Kong police can do.”
Chan said that rather than suggesting that Hong Kong had become a “haven for fugitives” the brothers’ visit showed that the city upheld the rule of law, where personal freedoms were protected and police powers constrained by legal boundaries.
Hong Kong has no extradition treaty with Romania, while its agreement with the UK was suspended after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020.
The UK government last year proposed reinstating some form of extradition cooperation on a “case-by-case basis”.
When asked if Hong Kong police had received any requests for cooperation or extradition help relating to the Tate brothers’ case, a force spokesman said on Monday that officers regularly liaised with mainland Chinese and overseas counterparts through established channels to exchange intelligence.
Lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong, a member of the Legislative Council’s security panel, also said Hong Kong could not extradite the pair if they complied with local laws and no requests were lodged by the two foreign governments.
“We cannot say that Hong Kong is a fugitive haven when there are no extradition treaties [with these countries] as such incidents are rare,” he said. “Hong Kong upholds the rule of law and we should act according to our legislation. The duty [to request an extradition] does not lie with Hong Kong.”
He added that it would benefit the city to expand judicial mutual help with more countries, so as not to provide any “safe harbour” for fugitives from serious crimes.
Legal-sector lawmaker Nick Chan Hiu-fung said responsibility for the Tates’ international movements lay with the British and Romanian authorities, accusing them of “exporting potential serious criminals” to embarrass other jurisdictions.
“If they believe allegations against the Tates are so serious, they could have issued an Interpol Red Notice. But for some reason, they did not,” he said.
A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action, but the decision to arrest the wanted person remains at the discretion of local authorities.
Asked whether Hong Kong should seek to restore extradition pacts with the UK or establish similar agreements with more countries including Romania, Chan said he would welcome such initiatives, describing them as opportunities to “transmit our rule of law spirit to other places”.
“I believe no jurisdictions would welcome any wrongdoers entering their boundaries,” he said.
Among those sharing pictures taken with the Tates was lawyer David Fenn, who defended them online, saying that the brothers had not been convicted and were therefore “innocent until proven guilty”.
Fenn represented controversial local influencer Joseph Lam Chok in his alleged fraud and money-laundering case linked to cryptocurrency platform JPEX, which has been adjourned until June.
Andrew Tate’s social media posts show he and 37-year-old Tristan had travelled to Dubai earlier this month, when the city in the United Arab Emirates was facing missile and drone attacks from Tehran amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
In one post, he mocked those fleeing Dubai amid the strikes, calling them “cowards”.
Tate, a self-described misogynist, and his brother face criminal allegations in both Romania and the UK as well as civil damage claims.
They were arrested in Romania in December 2022 and charged in June 2023 with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group.
Romanian prosecutors lifted their travel restrictions last year, and the Tates have since travelled to the United States and other countries.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service issued a European Arrest Warrant for the Tates in England in 2024, and later authorised charges of rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm against them in May 2025.
While British prosecutors reportedly dropped criminal charges against them in a separate case, the allegations laid in May were still active.
The Tates have denied all accusations.
The SCMP has reached out to the British and Romanian consulates in the city for comment.
This article was first published on SCMP.
