Ottawa seeks answers: HK-born Canadians are denied 10-year mainland visas and told to travel as Chinese citizens, reports claim
Canada’s foreign ministry is pressing Beijing for an explanation, after reports that Hong Kong-born naturalised Canadians are being denied the right to travel to mainland China on 10-year visas that are extended to other Canadians, and are being told they can only visit as Chinese nationals
Chinese-language media say that since early June, first-generation Hong Kong-born Canadian dual citizens are being told they can only apply to travel to China as Chinese nationals. Previously, they could choose to travel either as Canadian or as Chinese citizens.
“Canada is aware of recent reports of challenges for Canadian-Chinese dual citizens in obtaining visas to visit China from Hong Kong. We are looking into the issue and are following up with the Chinese authorities,” said Felix Corriveau, a spokesman for Immigration Minister John McCallum.
Tens of thousands of Hongkongers return from Canada since 1996
The issue is sensitive in Canada, where a population of 36 million includes more than a million people of Chinese descent. Many Hong Kong residents emigrated to Canada and took up citizenship both before and after the city’s return to China in 1997. Tens of thousands have since returned to Hong Kong, where they constitute the bulk of 300,000 Canadian citizens in the former British colony.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has not received any notification of changes to the visa policy, a spokesman said in an emailed statement.