Canadian lawmakers want audit of Hong Kong officials’ assets and ‘personal connections’ under Magnitsky sanctions programme
- A letter lists 10 potential targets for sanctions, including Hong Kong’s chief executive, chief secretary, financial secretary and secretary for justice
- Twenty MPs and senators signed the letter to Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau
A group of 20 Canadian parliamentarians are calling on the government to audit the “financial and personal connections” of top Hong Kong officials and their spouses to Canada, a preliminary step to enact sanctions against anyone responsible for “the dramatic erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms”.
In a letter to Foreign Minister Marc Garneau dated Tuesday, the 14 MPs and six senators say that “thousands of Canadian citizens who are fearful of their future” in Hong Kong are desperate for the Canadian government and allies to act.
The letter says that with “nearly every prominent pro-democracy voice in Hong Kong in jail, awaiting trial, or overseas in exile, it is clear that there is an increased need for a robust and coordinated response against the Hong Kong officials who are responsible for human rights abuses and the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in the city”.
“We urge the Canadian government to begin that process now by undertaking an audit of the financial and personal connections Hong Kong officials and their marital partners/spouses have in Canada,” the letter says.
It lists 10 potential targets by their positions, including Hong Kong’s chief executive, chief secretary, financial secretary and secretary for justice.