Within hours of my previous post, news broke that Philip Snowden had left Hong Kong bound for Russia on his way to seeking asylum elsewhere. So we have been spared a protracted legal wrangle and a potential showdown between Beijing and Washington.

On the face of it, Hong Kong’s reputation for adhering to the rule of law remains in tact. The authorities refused to arrest Snowden, despite a formal request from the United States to do so. The request was turned down on the basis that it was incomplete and hence, under Hong Kong law, there was no basis either to detain Snowden or prevent him from leaving. Because of the operation of Hong Kong law, therefore, he was free to go – and he did.

Underlying this, however, is the suggestion that the Central Government in China asked Snowden to leave. Some may call this a sinister intervention. I say, absolutely not. Rather, if true, this shows the Chinese government becoming more and more deft in picking a path through diplomatic minefields. After all, we have a solution in which China’s special administrative region, Hong Kong, has maintained its adherence to the rule of law and Beijing has avoided an ugly confrontation with the United States. The importance of the bi-lateral relationship between the two most powerful countries in the world, remaining trouble-free cannot be underestimated.

Whatever the case, I say Hong Kong was absolutely right not to give into the United States demands to arrest Snowden and playing this one completely by the book. Even if the suggestion that Beijing asked Snowden to leave is true, the end result was not to override the rule of law, but to leave it very much in tact. Snowden left Hong Kong, not as a criminal, but voluntarily as free man. Hong Kong can be proud of that and the role it has played in this incident.