CANADA SUSPENDS EXTRADITION TREATY WITH HONG KONG OVER NEW SECURITY LAW
Jul 03, 2020
By Bob Komsic
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong as part of a number of responses to the new security law China’s imposed on the region.
This country will also treat sensitive goods being exported to Hong Kong as if they were going to mainland China.
China imposed strict new controls on Hong Kong this week, aimed at giving Beijing more power to police anti-government protests and other activities it considers the work of hostile foreign countries.
Prime Minister Trudeau suggests the new law is a threat to the ”one country, two systems” philosophy that was intended to last 50 years after Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.
”Without it,” says Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, ”Canada is forced to reassess existing agreements.”
The relationship between Ottawa and Beijing remains strained as China continues holding Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on charges Canada considers retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 on an American extradition warrant.