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Canadian Pro-Democracy Groups Urge Sanctions on Hong Kong Officials Over Overseas Arrest Warrants

They say targeted sanctions would bolster accountability for what they call transnational repression by Beijing-backed authorities

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FILE - People walk past China national flags and Hong Kong flags for the celebration of 24th anniversary of Hong Kong handover to China at a shopping district in Hong Kong, Sunday, June 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
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The G7 calls Hong Kong’s move to place fresh bounties on overseas activists a “form of transnational repression”. Photo: Getty Images

Overview

  • The Hong Kong Police Force issued arrest warrants for 19 overseas activists under the 2020 National Security Law and attached bounties of up to HK$1 million for information leading to their arrests.
  • Ten Canadian pro-democracy groups sent a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand calling for sanctions against Chief Executive John Lee, senior police leaders, judges and other officials enforcing the warrants.
  • Members and associate members of the G7’s Rapid Response Mechanism, including Canada, the UK and Australia, denounced the warrants as coercive intimidation that undermines human rights and state sovereignty.
  • A Hong Kong government spokesman defended the measures as lawful actions against individuals “endangering national security” and rejected claims of repressing freedom of expression.
  • The call for Canadian sanctions follows diplomatic pressure from Australia’s Penny Wong raising the issue with Wang Yi and UK security minister Dan Jarvis vowing to protect exiled dissidents from overseas intimidation.