Trudeau said that with immediate effect, Canada will stop shipments of some military items to Hong Kong and treat exports of sensitive goods in the same way as those destined for the mainland. Canada will also stop extraditing people to Hong Kong.
He added that Canada is seeking additional measures, including changes related to immigration, in the coming days and weeks.
“Canada joins the international community in expressing serious concern over the passage of mainland China’s national security legislation for Hong Kong,” he said.
What others have done: On Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a sanctions bill to penalize China under the national security law for Hong Kong. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this week that the UK will offer up to three million Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was in contact with international partners to consider a possible response to the new legislation.
Plus Canada-China witness: Canada’s steps come with its relationship with China already at a low point. Diplomatic ties between Canada and its second-largest trading partner have dramatically deteriorated since the arrest in December 2018 of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition order. Meng’s case angered Beijing, which demanded his immediate release. Days after his arrest, the Chinese authorities detained two Canadians accused of espionage. Trudeau, who has been under intense internal pressure over his Chinese policy, called his arrests arbitrary and insisted that China has connected them to the Meng case.
