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Canada Waiting for Arrival of Hong Kongers With Canadian Passports

Craig McCulloch

   VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - More than 300,000 Hong Kongers are
   believed to hold Canadian passports, and while Canada has yet to join
   Britain, Australia and Taiwan in making it easier for Hong Kong
   residents to immigrate or seek asylum because of a harsh new security
   law for the partly autonomous Chinese territory, Ottawa is waiting to
   see how many will show up.

   The Canadian government has so far not proposed any changes to its
   immigration policies for Hong Kong residents, but it has joined other
   countries in their criticisms of the new security law. Ostensibly meant
   to combat terrorism, separatism and sedition, the new law could be used
   to criminalize almost all dissent in Hong Kong, its critics say.

   The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also suspended an
   extradition treaty between Canada and Hong Kong, [1]to the dismay of
   China's embassy in Ottawa.

   Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents took advantage of favorable
   Canadian immigration laws in the mid-1990s, investing in property and
   starting businesses to secure citizenship as a hedge against an
   uncertain future after Britain returned its former colony to China in
   1997. Both those programs have since been canceled, [2]Canadian
   immigration attorney David Cohen said.

   For younger people, the laws offered a chance to finish high school in
   Canada and continue a sought-after English-language education at a
   university in the West on a study visa, a lengthy route to citizenship.
   After becoming established in Canada, many returned to Hong Kong to
   pursue business opportunities and raise families of their own.

   Many of those who remained settled in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal,
   where large communities of Hong Kong expatriates are thriving. Even
   during the coronavirus pandemic, there have been multiple flights every
   week from Hong Kong to Vancouver and Toronto.

References

   1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-hongkong-canada/china-rebukes-canada-over-criticism-of-hong-kong-security-law-idUSKBN2450G9
   2. https://www.cicnews.com/2020/07/canada-eyeing-more-immigrants-from-hong-kong-0714942.html#gs.azmxr6

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