Special Committee on Canada-China Relations

Comité spécial sur les relations sino-canadiennes

For immediate release

Ottawa, November 13, 2020 -

The Special Committee on Canada–China Relations was created by the House of Commons “to conduct hearings to examine and review all aspects of the Canada–China relationship, including, but not limited to, consular, economic, legal, security and diplomatic relations.”

Pursuant to that mandate, the Special Committee issued an invitation to the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Canada to appear as a witness during its 26 October 2020 meeting. The Special Committee is disappointed that the Ambassador did not accept that invitation.

The Special Committee believes that a meeting, preferably an official meeting on the public record, is the most appropriate means by which the Ambassador can clarify past remarks and share his government’s perspective regarding Canada–China relations generally, and the situation in Hong Kong particularly.

The Special Committee is conducting its study for several reasons, and the situation in Hong Kong is an integral aspect of its work. The ties between Canada and Hong Kong are long standing and well known, notably due to the many Canadian soldiers who participated and lost their lives in the war effort to prevent the Japanese invasion during the Second World War. Today, an estimated 300,000 Canadians live in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s freedoms and high degree of autonomy were enshrined in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a treaty registered with the United Nations. As the Special Committee has been told, the international community was asked to support the “one country, two systems” framework and cooperate toward its successful implementation. The Special Committee notes that, while the framework is obliged to endure until 2047, serious questions have been raised by the National Security Law that was enacted on 30 June 2020. Furthermore, the Special Committee reiterates that the freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law, including freedom of expression and assembly, are guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which applies in Hong Kong.

Members of the Special Committee, while disappointed with the response they received, remain open to a meeting with the Ambassador, at a mutually agreed time.