Hong Kong police have issued bounties for six more pro-democracy activists, including two Canadians, who fled the city amid Beijing’s tightening control.
The Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants Dec. 24 for six activists under the region’s national security law, offering a reward of HK$1 million (approximately CAD $185,000) for any information that could lead to their capture.
Among those on the wanted list are two Canadians: Victor Ho, a veteran journalist, and Joseph Tay, founder of the advocacy platform, HongKonger Station, and current Conservative Party candidate for the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville.
Ho was charged by the Hong Kong authorities on Aug. 3, 2022 under the national security law for “contravening the offence of subversion,” which the Chinese regime often levies against pro-democracy activists. Ho had co-founded the Hong Kong Parliament Electoral Organizing Committee, a Toronto-based group aimed at establishing an “exile” Hong Kong parliament.
Hong Kong police also issued arrest warrants and bounties in July of 2023 for eight other pro-democracy activists who fled Hong Kong under the national security law. Among them was Dennis Kwok, a former Hong Kong politician born in Canada. On Dec. 24, the Hong Kong authorities also ordered the cancellation of passports for seven “absconders,” including Kwok.
Ho told The Epoch Times he views the latest arrest warrant and the additional bounty placed on him as a “formality,” rather than a genuine effort to have him extradited. He noted that Ottawa suspended the Canada-Hong Kong extradition treaty in July 2020 in response to the passage of the Hong Kong national security law, which is widely seen as Beijing’s effort to erode the city’s autonomy protected by an international treaty with the United Kingdom.
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The Hong Kong national security law was passed in June 2020 following months of pro-democracy protests in the former British colony against Beijing’s growing control. After Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, its high degree of autonomy was protected under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. However, the national security law gave Beijing sweeping powers to crack down on dissent and erode the city’s freedoms.
Ho said that both the 2023 and the latest arrest warrants issued by the Hong Kong police are efforts to coerce the Hong Kong diaspora community in Canada, which has the largest Hong Kong immigrant population.
“The Chinese regime seeks to send a message to Hongkongers abroad, warning them not to speak or act recklessly, aiming to instil fear,” Ho told The Epoch Times in Mandarin.
Election Interference
Meanwhile, Ho views the targeting of the Conservative candidate Tay as part of the Beijing’s effort to interfere in Canada’s 2025 federal election.
“This [arrest warrant] to the founder of the HongKonger Station serves a deeper purpose: to warn those who are politically aligned with the Conservative Party, whether they are prospective candidates or other party supporters, especially Hong Kong residents and immigrants in Canada. It’s a signal telling them not to support these individuals,” Ho said.
However, Ho added that the Chinese Communist Party “will not achieve its goal” of coercion through this tactic. Instead, it will serve as a “free promotion” for Tay.
The Epoch Times contacted Tay and the Conservative Party for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
The Foreign Interference Commission, in an interim report, found that Beijing interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said this interference “likely diminished the ability of some voters to cast an informed vote, thereby tainting the process.”
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced on Dec. 21 the sanctions under its Anti–Foreign Sanctions Law against two Canadian human rights advocacy groups—the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee—along with 20 individuals linked to these organizations.
A spokesperson for the Chinese ministry said that the move is in response to Canada’s recent sanctions targeting eight current and former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. These CCP officials also faced sanctions by the U.S. government for their involvement in human rights crimes against minority groups, including Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Falun Gong practitioners.
