Hong Kong Government Lays Charges Against Dissident of CCP in Canada

Journalist Victor Ho poses for a photograph in Richmond, B.C., on Aug. 24, 2022. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

The Hong Kong government says it will prosecute anyone who violates its arbitrary national security law—including foreign nationals outside of its territory—after recently laying charges against a Chinese Canadian journalist who criticized the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On Aug. 3, the Hong Kong Security Bureau announced charges against Victor Leung-mau Ho, former chief editor for Canada’s Sing Tao Daily, for co-establishing the Hong Kong Parliament Electoral Organizing Committee, a Toronto-based organization aimed at electing an “exile” Hong Kong parliament.

The Hong Kong Security Bureau said in a press release that Ho is “suspected of contravening the offence of subversion” under Article 22 of the national security law, which makes it an offence if anyone participates in activities, by force or “other unlawful means,” with “a view to subverting the State power” of the communist-led government.

“On the basis of Article 37 of the National Security Law, Police shall spare no efforts in pursuing the cases in accordance with the law in order to bring the offenders to justice,” the Hong Kong Security Bureau said in the press release.

Extraterritorial Effect

Article 37 of the national security law states that the law “shall apply to a person who is a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or an incorporated or unincorporated body such as a company or an organisation which is set up in the Region if the person or the body commits an offence under this Law outside the Region.”

These charges against Ho and two others may mark the first use of the section, reported the National Post.

“Acts and activities that endanger national security have very serious consequences, and hence actions must be taken to prevent and suppress such acts and activities, to ensure that individuals endangering national security will face legal consequences,” Hong Kong Security Bureau spokesperson Tommy Wu told the news agency in an email this week.

Wu gave an affirmative answer when asked if it would be possible for the Hong Kong government to use that law to prosecute citizens of another nation for an act that occurred in their countries.

“It should also be pointed out that the NSL has extraterritorial effect,” Wu said. “Any persons or entities who violate the NSL, regardless of their background or where they are located, will be dealt with by the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) government in accordance with the law.”

This comment realizes previous concerns of international communities that the national security law, introduced in June 2020, will deal a fatal blow to Hong Kong’s democracy, while the law’s extra-judiciary nature will further threaten dissidents outside of Chinese territory.

Victor Ho

Ho immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2001. He worked as editor-in-chief of the Vancouver edition of Sing Tao Daily, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in Canada at the time.

Canada’s Sing Tao Daily was founded in 1978 as a paid daily newspaper, affiliated with the Hong Kong-based Sing Tao News Corporation. The publication that was once critical of the Chinese communist regime began to take on a pro-Beijing stance following the former British colony’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the U.S. subsidiary of Sing Tao to be registered as a foreign agent, joining Chinese state-owned media CGTN and Xinhua in carrying that designation.

Ho has criticized the publication’s transition into “a CCP mouthpiece,” saying that it has abandoned professionalism and values as an independent medium.

The retired editor, who lives in Richmond, British Columbia, has also urged the Canadian government to pass laws to prevent the spreading of CCP propaganda within Chinese Canadian communities across the country.

In response to the laid charges, Ho said Canada’s federal government and political leaders must make a clear statement that foreign governments cannot use such tactics against Canadians.

“[Ottawa] should send a message to other governments that you can’t treat Canadian citizens like this, you can’t demonize Canadian citizens for activities that are completely acceptable in a democratic society,” he told the National Post.

When asked about Ho’s case, Global Affairs Canada told the National Post in a statement that Ottawa is concerned about the “rapid deterioration” of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong and had responded with various actions, including suspending an extradition treaty, imposing export-control measures, and launching new immigration avenues for Hongkongers to come to Canada.

“We are very concerned by the application of the National Security Law against any Canadians,” said the statement released on Aug. 31.