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e-5137 (Foreign affairs)

E-petition
Initiated by Cheuk Kwan from Toronto, Ontario

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • On August 12, 2024, Hong Kong's top court upheld the convictions of seven of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy activists, including 82-year-old Martin Lee and 76-year-old Jimmy Lai, for participating in a peaceful demonstration on August 18, 2019;
  • The Group of 47, which includes legislators, were found guilty on May 30, 2024, in the exercise of their democratic rights for participating in election primaries;
  • Chow Hang-tung and former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance have been arrested over the Alliance holding annual candlelight vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen protests and massacre; and
  • Given the extraterritorial reach of the National Security Law and Article 23, there is ongoing fear of surveillance among the Hong Kong diaspora, and in light of the recent spying charges laid against the manager and staff of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in the United Kingdom, Hongkongers want to be reassured that this is not happening in Canada.
We, the undersigned, citizens or residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Call on Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China to release Jimmy Lai, Chow Hang-tung, the Group of 47 and others whose only ‘crime’ was to exercise their rights and freedoms as prescribed by the United Nations Human Rights Declaration;
2. Stop according any special rights or diplomatic status to the HKETO; and
3. Proactively apply sanctions under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (the Magnitsky Law) against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
Open for signature
September 11, 2024, at 10:35 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
November 10, 2024, at 10:35 a.m. (EDT)
Photo - Jenny Kwan
Vancouver East
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia