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Writer's pictureVSSDM

Petition e-5137 Revoke HKETO Status

Updated: Sep 14


Petition will close on Nov 10, 2024. Please sign it as soon as you can. There is no age restrictions to sign as long as you are a Canadian citizen or resident, i.e. PR, study permit, work permit or refugee claimant. Online petition needs your name, phone, postal code and valid email address. Upon receiving the confirmation email, click the link in the message to make your signature valid. Paper petition requires your physical signature and an unidentifiable address in Canada (street name, city, province and postal code). Provided personal information is for verification by the Federal Government and will never be released.




Petition Text


Paper Petition Form

A coalition of human rights and pro-democracy groups is launching a petition to call on the Canadian government to stop according any special rights or diplomatic status to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) and to proactively apply sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.


Furthermore, the petition reiterates the call on the government to demand the release of Jimmy Lai, Chow-Hang-Tung and Hong Kong 47 whose only ‘crime’ was to exercise their rights and freedoms as prescribed by the UN Human Rights Declaration. 


Hong Kong’s National Security Law came into effect in 2020,  shattering China’s international commitment to the promise of “One Country, Two Systems”. The territory’s autonomy has been annihilated, and its people have lost even the most basic of human rights and freedoms.


Human rights activists, including former parliamentarians and journalists are being convicted for exercising the freedoms they once enjoyed. Known as Hong Kong 47, most have been jailed since February 2021, and convicted under the National Security Law.


“By smashing to pieces the Sino-British Joint Declaration, it is time for Canada to revoke those privileges the HKETO enjoys,” said MP Jenny Kwan, the petition’s sponsor. “The International community must raise our voices for basic human rights around the globe and in support of those who are being silenced.”


The Hong Kong trade offices around the world were given diplomatic privileges and immunities under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework.


“Hongkongers in Canada are in clear and present danger of harassment and surveillance from the HKETO,” Mabel Tung of Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM) said, citing recent arrest of a trade office manager in London for alleged “foreign interference offence.” 


 “There is strong support across Canada for this petition,” said Cheuk Kwan of Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC). “Canadians are all aware that the National Security Law makes a mockery of freedom of expression and the rule of law.”


The petition’s organizers include Toronto Association for Democracy in China, Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement and Movement for Democracy in China (Calgary) with support from Canada-Hong Kong Link, Hong Kong Watch and Action Free Hong Kong Montreal.


Media Coverage



新時代電視 2024-09-12


A1中文電台 2024-09-12


HongKonger Station 香港台 LIVE 2024-09-13


自由亞洲電臺普通話頻道 2024-09-13


自由亞洲電臺粵語頻道 2024-09-13


加拿大國際廣播電臺 2024-09-13


加拿大星島新聞網 2024-09-13


大紀元時報 2024-09-13


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