Preaching democracy while acting as tyrants

What happens next with the man responsible for leaking a trove of National Security Agency documents to the Guardian rests in the hands of two countries who could do anything. They might send him back to the U.S. with express shipping, or decide to keep him as a global bargaining chip.

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old American defense contractor, revealed himself as the man responsible for the Guardian's string of NSA leaks Sunday afternoon. Booz Allen confirmed he was an employee for the last three months. But, for now, he's in a hotel in Hong Kong ordering room service and covering up every time he logs onto his computer.

"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things ... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under,"he said.

"The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards," Snowdown said.

Some legal experts were puzzled as to why Snowden fled to Hong Kong because it has an extradition treaty with the United States while mainland China does not.

But, ultimately, it will likely come down to how China wants this to play out. They are perhaps the only superpower who can stand up to the anericans. China’s a big enough player and the US has enough other fish to fry with the Chinese, that the US is not going to put the bilateral relationship on the line over this guy. And the Chinese might relish granting asylum to an American running from the claws of US ‘state repression’.

Snowden could possibly leave Hong Kong for another country, one that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S., before the authorities find him. Or he could continue staying in his hotel room at the Mandarin Oriental, with the U.S. embassy just down the street, eating room service until his fate is ultimately sealed.

http://news.yahoo.com/china-hong-kong-hold-edward-snowdens-fate-23552310...