Hong Kong Watch announces new Advisors in Canada
Hong Kong Watch is delighted to announce the appointment of three new Advisors in Canada: Dr Charles Burton, Dr Benjamin Fung, and Margaret McCuaig-Johnston. These three join Hong Kong Watch’s advisory group, which spans across Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the US and the UK.
Dr Charles Burton is a Senior Fellow at Sinopsis specializing in China’s domestic affairs and international relations, with extensive publications on these topics. He has been commissioned by Canadian and international agencies to produce strategic reports on China’s relations with the Western and developing worlds. Dr Burton served as a counsellor at the Canadian Embassy to China in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He previously worked for the Communications Security Establishment at the Canadian Department of National Defence. From 1989 to 2020, Dr Burton was a professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University, focusing on comparative politics, China-Canada relations, and human rights. Dr Burton holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, having also studied at Cambridge University and Fudan University. After achieving his doctorate, Dr Burton was an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Post-Doctoral Scholar at the University of Alberta.
Dr Benjamin Fung is a Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity and a Full Professor in the School of Information Studies at McGill University. Dr Fung’s research focuses on artificial intelligence, deep learning, and data mining, with applications in cybersecurity, privacy protection, and combating foreign interference. Since 2019, he has been actively involved in advancing research security and countering disinformation in Canada. From 2016 to 2021, Dr Fung served as Co-curator of the World Economic Forum’s cybersecurity platform. Recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford University, Dr Fung is also a licensed professional engineer in software engineering, registered in Ontario.
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston is a Board Member of the global think tank China Strategic Risks Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, a member of the Canada Committee of Human Rights Watch, a Board member of the Human Rights Action Group, a Policy Advisor to the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, and an Advisory Board member of the Canada China Forum. Ms McCuaig-Johnston is also a member of the Canada-US Commission on China. Her research includes China’s human rights violations, technology joint ventures, surveillance technologies, and security risks of academic and industry collaborations with China. Ms McCuaig-Johnston previously worked in the Canadian government for 37 years in science and technology policy, programs and funding, including 13 years as an Assistant Deputy Minister which involved many collaborations with agencies in pre-Xi Jinping China. Ms McCuaig-Johnston holds an MA in International Relations focused on China, and an Honours BA in Political Economy. Her first visit to China and Hong Kong was in 1979.
Hong Kong Watch established our Advisory Group in September 2021, to strengthen and enhance our advocacy work around the world. Our Advisors are based in our key advocacy arenas, including the US, Australia, Europe and the UK, and include both Hong Kongers and non-Hong Kongers, appointed on the strength of their advocacy expertise and knowledge of Hong Kong. Our Advisors provide strategic advice and ideas on policy proposals and advocacy activities and to facilitate introductions for Hong Kong Watch’s advocacy team to key contacts in legislatures, governments, think-tanks, academia, NGOs and the media. Our Advisory Group works in an entirely voluntary, pro bono way, and its members do not represent or speak for Hong Kong Watch but work in close co-ordination with our advocacy team.
We look forward to working with and warmly welcome Dr Charles Burton, Dr Benjamin Fung, and Margaret McCuaig-Johnston as our Advisors as we begin the new year.
香港監察委任新加拿大顧問
香港監察欣然宣布委任三位新加拿大顧問：Dr Charles Burton、Dr Benjamin Fung和Margaret McCuaig-Johnston。三人現加入香港監察足跡遍及加拿大、澳洲、德國、意大利、美國和英國的顧問小組。
Dr Charles Burton是智庫「Sinopsis」高級研究員，專攻中國國內事務及國際關係，就這些主題發表過大量文獻。他受加拿大及國際機構委託撰寫有關中國與西方及發展中國家關係的策略報告。Dr Burton在1990年代末至2000年代初擔任加拿大駐中國大使館參事。
Dr Benjamin Fung是麥基爾大學資訊研究學院網絡安全數據探勘加拿大研究主席兼正教授。Dr Fung的研究集中在人工智能、深度學習及數據探勘，並應用在網絡安全、私隱保護及打擊外國干預領域上。他自2019年起積極參與推進研究安全及抗衡加拿大不實資訊。
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston是跨國智庫「中國戰略風險研究所」董事會成員、渥太華大學公共及國際事務研究生院和科學、社會及政策學院的高級研究員、「人權監察」加拿大委員會成員、「人權行動小組」董事會成員、「維吾爾人權倡議計劃」政策顧問，以及「加中論壇」顧問委員會成員。Ms McCuaig-Johnston也是加拿大—美國中國委員會委員。她的研究包括中國侵害人權行為、科技合資企業、監控技術，以及與中國學術及工業合作的安全風險。
香港監察在2021年9月成立顧問小組，銳意加強我們的全球倡議工作。香港監察顧問常駐我們的主要倡議地區，包括美國、澳洲、歐洲和英國，當中有香港人，也有非香港人，基於倡議專業知識和對香港的了解而獲委任。香港監察顧問就政策專案和倡議活動提供策略建議和見解，並協助向立法機關、政府、智庫、學術界、非政府組織和傳媒的重要人士介紹香港監察倡議團隊。香港監察顧問小組以完全志願且不收取報酬的方式運作，顧問不代表香港監察，也並非香港監察發言人，但與香港監察倡議團隊密切合作。
新年伊始，香港監察期待與Dr Charles Burton、Dr Benjamin Fung和Margaret McCuaig-Johnston合作，並熱烈歡迎他們擔任我們的顧問。