Hong Kong Watch Trustees met with Canadian Parliamentarians to raise human rights in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Watch Chairman and Co-founder Benedict Rogers and one of our trustees Aileen Calverley met with Canadian Parliamentarians of the Human Rights and Foreign Affairs committee on 30 October 2018 to discuss the erosion of Hong Kong's human rights, freedom, rule of law, and autonomy and actions which Canada and the Canadian Parliament should take to address the increasingly repressive situation. Hong Kong Watch also recommended the committee to urge their Foreign Minister to put forward recommendations concerning Hong Kong’s human rights and freedoms during the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations for China. The Parliamentarians present included David Anderson MP, John Brassard MP, David Sweet MP, Erin O Toole MP, and Garnett Genuis MP, Senator Thanh Hai Ngo as well as the officials of Global Affairs Canada (Foreign Ministry of Canada).

During the visit, Roxanne Hamel of Greater China Division of Global Affairs Canada showed Benedict Rogers the Hong Kong Memorial Wall in Ottawa, which was erected as a lasting memory to the 1,975 Canadians who sailed to Hong Kong in 1941 to assist the British in defending the colony against the Japanese invasion.

Garnett Genuis MP hosted a Canada-Holy See Friendship group luncheon event with co-chair MP Sorbara on "Vatican-China Relations and Religious Freedom in Hong Kong.”, in which Benedict Rogers and Aileen Calverley were invited as the speakers.