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Canada restricts dealings with Hong Kong over new security law

Jul 3, 2020 | 9:21 AM

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada is suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong as part of a package of responses to the new security law China has imposed on the territory.

In a statement, Champagne says Canada will also treat sensitive goods being exported to Hong Kong as if they were being sent to mainland China.

That means outright banning some military-related goods from being traded there.

China imposed strict new controls on Hong Kong this week, in what Champagne calls a violation of the “one country, two systems” philosophy that was supposed to last 50 years after Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Champagne’s statement says Hong Kong’s place in the global economy was based on that promise and needs to be reassessed.

Canada’s moves follow measures taken by the United States earlier this week to tighten trade with Hong Kong and stop selling it military equipment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2020.

The Canadian Press