Canada, U.K. worry about citizens
HONG KONG
OTTAWA • The foreign ministers of Canada and the United Kingdom ministers warned that hundreds of thousands of citizens in Hong Kong could be in jeopardy due to a new law that would allow China to claw back substantial power over the region, which was promised autonomy and democratic leadership when it was transferred to China from British rule in 1997.
A pro-China Hong Kong government recently proposed a law that would newly allow the Chinese authoritarian state to demand the surrender of individuals from the commercial hub to the mainland. “We are concerned about the potential effect of these proposals on the large number of Canadian and U.K. citizens in Hong Kong, on business confidence and on Hong Kong’s international reputation,” says a statement from Chrystia Freeland and Jeremy Hunt released Thursday.
The proposals could impact negatively on “rights and freedoms,” the statement reads. “It is vital that extradition arrangements in Hong Kong are in line with ‘one country, two systems’ and fully respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy. We have made these views clear in our respective conversations with the Hong Kong government.”
Freeland and Hunt are urging that the proposals be subject to “the highest levels of scrutiny,” and that the government should allow adequate time for “proper consideration to all alternative options and safeguards.”
Their strong words come amid an ongoing breakdown between Canada and China over Canada’s December arrest of a Huawei executive for extradition to the United States, and a host of retaliatory measures by China since then including the arrest of two Canadian citizens on what Canada contends are flimsy espionage charges.
Hong Kong is home to one of the largest Canadian communities outside of Canada with about 300,000 Canadian citizens living and working there, according to Global Affairs Canada, and the vulnerability of Canadian citizens to arbitrary arrest is clearly on the minister’s mind. According to a statement from her office Wednesday, the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor is “a top priority for the whole government.” China, however, does not tend to take kindly to criticism. Its embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment on the joint statement.
The U.K. is among many countries that have voiced support for Canada’s position on Kovrig and Spavor, with Hunt expressing in December he was “deeply concerned by suggestions of a political motivation for the detention of two Canadian citizens by the Chinese government.” Hong Kong is also home to a large community of U.K. citizens.
The South China Morning Post, based in Hong Kong, reported on Thursday that the city’s security minister was announcing new safeguards would be put into the extradition bill to assuage what the newspaper described as “a nervous business community.” Some 130,000 residents of Hong Kong had taken to the streets last month in protest, and another demonstration is scheduled for next week. The secretary for security, John Lee Ka-chiu, announced on Thursday limits to the scope of extraditable crimes, including a requirement that China could only demand the extradition of individuals accused of crimes punishable by seven or more years in prison, according to the SCMP.