<story><title>Edward Snowden &apos;missing&apos; in Hong Kong</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22850901</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>zatara</author><text>There is all this talk about how he made a mistake going to Hong Kong because Hong Kong actually has a strong extradition treaty with the United States (although ultimately, mainland China can veto anything if it chooses to do so). Snowden did not make a mistake going to Hong Kong, he was exceptionally clever because most likely he knows more about NSA spying than just the domestic spying that he revealed. He probably knows details of international spying and how the U.S. manages to snoop on countries through technological means. By sitting in Hong Kong he is signaling that he could easily defect to the Chinese and reveal real damage to National Security or perhaps the U.S. will cut a deal with him to let him go home without much jail time. Also, at a time when the U.S. has been admonishing the Chinese for spying, this would be a propaganda gold mine for the Chinese as well as an intelligence windfall if he were to defect to their country. The U.S. would be seething if this were to happen but the Chinese know that the Americans are so tied up with business deals with China that they would not or could not do much to damage relations between the two countries. Snowden could have went to Iceland first but his trump card is sensitive security information that U.S. real adversaries would like to have. Iceland could not use that information.</text></comment>
<story><title>Edward Snowden &apos;missing&apos; in Hong Kong</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22850901</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>sethbannon</author><text>This is sensationalist use of the word &amp;quot;missing&amp;quot;. The BBC doesn&amp;#x27;t know where Snowden currently is -- that&amp;#x27;s all the article says.</text></comment>