Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino is set to make an announcement Thursday about “measures for residents of Hong Kong and Canadians living there.”
These new measures come on the heels of China removing four democratically elected lawmakers from office in Hong Kong, which Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has called “a further assault on Hong Kong’s high degree of freedoms.”
In a statement, Champagne called it a “concerning disregard” for Hong Kong’s autonomy and said Canada stands with the people of Hong Kong.
“We are deeply disappointed that China has chosen to break its international obligations,” the foreign affairs minister said.
Ottawa’s top diplomat in Hong Kong told MPs on the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations on Nov. 2 that the federal government had made preparations to evacuate some 300,000 Canadian citizens out of Hong Kong should the situation worsen.
“We have detailed plans in place, and we have resources available and identified to cover a range of situations up to and including a situation where the urgent departure of a large number of Canadians would be necessary,” Jeff Nankivell, Canada’s consul general in Hong Kong and Macau said.
Concerns for Canadians in Hong Kong come as China continues to tighten its grip on the territory following large pro-democracy demonstrations and push back against a sweeping national security law.
Photo credit: Vincent Yu/AP
News source: CTV News
