Chinese Canadian group highlights fresh concerns about Hong Kong government influence

The group is concerned that the University of B.C. will allow the Hong Kong government to rent a room at its downtown campus to conduct an exam for recruiting civil servants

Published Dec 30, 2024  •  Last updated 49 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Victor Ho lives in Richmond and is the former editor-in-chief of Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

A group of Chinese Canadians that made submissions to the federal government’s inquiry into foreign interference is raising fresh concerns about the Hong Kong government’s influence in Canada.

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It is drawing attention to two new developments in the last week. The first is the Hong Kong government’s targeting of six activists, including a Canadian who lives in Metro Vancouver, and its offer of a large cash reward for information that could lead to their arrests for having allegedly violated Hong Kong’s national security law.

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The other is the University of B.C.’s decision to allow the Hong Kong government to rent a room at its Robson Square campus so it could conduct an exam for recruiting civil servants. The exam includes material related to Hong Kong’s national security law.

“We sent a letter to UBC and want them to make sure that this will not happen again and to explain why they allowed this,” said Thekla Lit, who spoke to Postmedia on behalf of the Chinese Canadian Concern Group on the Chinese Communist Party’s Human Rights Violations, which includes community leaders, journalists, academics, religious leaders, professionals and human rights activists.

In November, the group outlined to the federal commission on foreign interference examples of alleged intimidation, harassment and interference in Canadian media and politics by the People’s Republic of China. The commission is also examining interference in Canada by state and non-state players in Russia and other foreign countries.

A Hong Kong government website describes the civil service exams — held on Dec. 7 in seven cities outside of Hong Kong, including Beijing, Shanghai, London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney — as being new. It said another round of such exams is under review.

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The Concern Group has not heard directly from UBC since it sent an open letter on Dec. 22 to Benoit-Antoine Bacon, UBC’s president and vice-chancellor.

The university has replied to media inquiries by saying it acknowledges the concerns raised regarding a Dec. 7 rental booked by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at UBC Robson Square, but it does not endorse the activities, views or positions of groups that rent its spaces.

“As a public institution, UBC provides space for a wide variety of events and activities under its space rental policy, including renting to external groups who have no affiliation with UBC or other educational institutions. The policy allows external organizations to book university facilities, provided their activities comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as UBC policies,” a UBC media relations official, Thandi Fletcher, said in a statement to Postmedia.

NDP MP for Vancouver East Jenny Kwan said it is her understanding that during the exam, applicants are required to demonstrate their knowledge of how to apply the national security law.

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“UBC’s response is that they are just renting the space and that, as far as they are concerned, the people who are renting the space have followed all of their rules and regulations. Their suggestion was that anybody with concerns should go and talk to the Hong Kong government. I don’t think that’s an adequate response,” said Kwan.

She said there are major concerns about how the national security law is arbitrarily applied and that it targets not only people living in Hong Kong, but individuals who live elsewhere.

“We now know there are Canadians where the Hong Kong authorities have put a bounty on their head because they have allegedly been in violation of their national security law,” said Kwan.

One of the six people named by the Hong Kong government is Victor Ho, who is a Canadian citizen living in Richmond and is the former editor-in-chief of Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao.

Victor Ho, the former Sing Tao editor, poses for a photo in Richmond, BC, August, 15, 2022. (Richard Lam/PNG) Photo by RICHARD LAM /PNG

In 2022, the Hong Kong government put Ho on a wanted list and said it “severely condemns” him on the basis of the national security law. Ho and other activists had, at a Toronto news conference, talked about organizing a committee for a Hong Kong “parliament in exile” that would oppose Beijing’s clampdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong.

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The new announcement, posted on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, offers a cash reward of HK$1 million (about $180,000 Cdn.) for information leading to the arrest of Ho or the others. They are being charged with offences under Hong Kong’s law such as secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces.

Ho said in a Chinese-language post on Facebook that he is proud of the arrest warrant, joking that it’s the “best Christmas present.”

He also said: “A Canadian citizen like me … has the protection of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and exercised his right to the freedom of speech.”

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With file from Canadian Press

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