Hong Kong Watch publishes briefing paper on Canadian House of Commons’ Special Committee report into pension fund investment in China

Today, Hong Kong Watch is publishing a briefing on the Canadian House of Commons’ Special Committee on Canada-People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) report, outlining the Committee’s recommendations and offering further suggestions for how other governments, in the UK, US and EU, could follow the example set by Canada.

The Special Committee conducted a series of hearings to investigate the exposure of Canadian investment funds to human rights violations in the PRC in December 2022. The Committee summoned pension fund executives and expert witnesses, including former Hong Kong Watch Director of Policy and Advocacy Sam Goodman and Co-founder and Trustee Aileen Calverley, to provide testimony and recommendations on addressing this issue. 

On 13 December 2023, the Special Committee presented an interim report to the House, which reviewed the findings and recommendations and proposed further actions based on reports by Hong Kong Watch. The recommendations made by the Committee mark an important first step towards ensuring, through legislative and regulatory means, that the savings of ordinary citizens in Western countries do not end up indirectly funding gross violations of human rights or military buildup in the PRC. However, in order for any such measures to be successful, allied Western nations must ensure that similar measures are taken across all of their jurisdictions. Prohibitions on imports and investment should be harmonized and enforced by all relevant parties. In cases where a list of banned entities does not exist, governments should consider adopting and adapting the existing lists from allied countries.  

In June 2022, Hong Kong Watch published a series of reports revealing that some of the largest pension funds in the UK, Canada and the US were investing in companies involved in human rights violations, military modernisation, and repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), through active and passive investment mechanisms. 

The full Committee report can be read here.

Hong Kong Watch’s briefing on the report, with recommendations for further action, is available here.

香港監察發表簡報跟進加中關係特別委員會退休基金對華投資報告

香港監察今天發表關於加拿大眾議院加中關係特別委員會（Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship）報告的簡報，簡報概述委員會的建議，並就英國、美國和歐盟政府如何效法加拿大提供進一步建議。

特別委員會於2022年12月舉行一連串聽證會，調查加拿大投資基金涉嫌投資中國侵犯人權行為的問題。委員會傳召了退休基金高層和香港監察前政策及倡議總監Sam Goodman和共同創辦人兼信託人Aileen Calverley等專家證人，就應對問題作證並提出建議。

2023年12月13日，特別委員會向眾議院提交中期報告。有關報告以香港監察的研究報告為基礎，審議聽證會的調查結果和建議，並提出進一步行動。委員會提出的建議標誌着重要第一步：透過立法和監管手段，確保西方國家一般公民的儲蓄最終不會間接資助中國嚴重侵犯人權行為或軍事建設。然而，為讓這類措施行之有效，西方盟國必須確保在其所有司法管轄區採取類似措施。相關各方應協調並執行進口和投資禁令。如現時未有禁止實體清單，各國政府應考慮採用並調整盟國現有清單。

2022年6月，香港監察發表一系列研究報告，揭示若干英國、加拿大和美國大型退休基金透過直接及間接投資機制，投資牽涉新疆維吾爾自治區侵犯人權行為、軍事現代化和鎮壓的中國公司。

請在此處閱覽委員會報告全文。

請在此處閱覽香港監察關於委員會報告的簡報，內有進一步行動的建議。