Dissidents decry Hong Kong officers’ presence at World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg

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Members of the Hong Kong Police Force, cheered on by their chief, are hauling in medals at the World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg this week, angering dissidents in Canada who fled the Chinese-controlled territory because of a police crackdown on anti-Beijing protests.

Some 8,500 athletes from around the world have travelled to Canada for the event, which began last week and ends Sunday. The organizers of the games say teams from Russia, Belarus and Iran were excluded on the advice of the federal government, but that officials raised no concerns about Hong Kong.

Social-media posts on Facebook by the Hong Kong police boast that their athletes have won 30 gold and 24 silver medals during the competition, an Olympics-like sporting event held every two years in which the participants are firefighters or members of law enforcement. In a post on Tuesday, Raymond Siu, the commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force, a position equivalent to chief, said he had travelled to Winnipeg and attended many matches during the event, including a memorable women’s basketball game between Hong Kong police and their counterparts with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Some Hong Kongers in Canada are aghast that the team and its officials have been welcomed at the games.

The force has been criticized internationally for its actions in 2019, when it cracked down on widespread demonstrations in Hong Kong by pro-democracy protesters, who were demanding greater autonomy from the Chinese government. In September, 2019, Amnesty International accused Hong Kong police of torture and other abuses during the protests.

Last month, Hong Kong police accused eight self-exiled pro-democracy activists, including prominent Canadian-born dissident Dennis Kwok, of violating the territory’s National Security Law, which was passed in 2020. The force offered rewards of one million Hong Kong dollars, or $168,800, for information leading to their arrests.

Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested more than 260 people, including many pro-democracy figures, under the law.

“Do we allow the police force of an authoritarian regime to be in Canada this publicly on the street … to promote their brand? I think that is absolutely ridiculous,” said Henry Chan, co-director of the advocacy group Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong.

Mr. Chan said not many people knew Hong Kong police would be in Canada until they were already here. “I think that sends a strong message of how naive our government is on some of these issues concerning China,” he added, noting recent concern over China’s interference in Canadian politics.

He also raised China’s alleged practice of operating illegal police stations in Canada and other countries. Spanish human-rights organization Safeguard Defenders said in a report in September that it had found three of these stations in Toronto. It later identified two more, one in Vancouver and a second in an unknown Canadian location.

Mike Edwards, the chief operating officer of this year’s games, said the event is focused on sports. He said his organization relies on the direction of its federal partners when it comes to identifying which countries or regions should be excluded.

“We were provided the list from the federal government of any of the countries or any of the nations that they did have any concerns with, when it came to human-rights violations or any other elements that the federal government does track,” he said in an interview Monday.

Russia and Belarus were barred from participating because of those countries’ involvement in the invasion of Ukraine, he said. The government also raised concerns about Iran.

Mr. Edwards said he didn’t know the exact number of Hong Kong athletes participating in the event, but he said the territory has “a pretty good representation.”

Global Affairs Canada did not respond to repeated requests for comment on why the government did not raise concerns about participation by the Hong Kong police athletes. It also did not respond to a request for comment on the presence of Mr. Siu, the police chief.

In a Tuesday statement that did not address the games, the department said, “Canada condemns the Hong Kong authorities’ issuance of arrest warrants and international bounties for eight pro-democracy advocates living overseas, which serve as an attempt to silence individuals exercising their fundamental human right to freedom of expression.”

Spokespeople for the games, Global Affairs and the Chinese embassy in Ottawa all did not respond to questions about whether athletes from police forces in mainland China are also participating in the games.

Hong Kong passport holders do not need visas to enter Canada, though they must apply online for what is known as Electronic Travel Authorization. The $7 application requires applicants to submit their passport information. The website notes that “most applications are approved within minutes.”

The presence of Hong Kong police in Canada has been unsettling for some expats.

Jimmy Cheung, of the advocacy group Winnipeg Hong Kong Concern, said he was among a small number of people who protested at the opening ceremonies of the games last week. As he and a few others were standing there, he said, some of the Hong Kong athletes raised their phones. He believes they were taking pictures.

“Here’s the question. Would those pictures taken in Canada be used as evidence against those people if they would visit Hong Kong?” Mr. Cheung said.

The Hong Kong Police Force did not respond to a request for comment on the concerns expressed by Mr. Cheung and others in Canada.

In an interview posted by a Chinese state media outlet last month, Mr. Siu said that during the “black terror” – a reference to the 2019 protests, in which demonstrators used that colour as a symbol – the actions of his force were smeared by fake news. He noted that communication between his force and police in mainland China, including intelligence sharing, is close. “It’s been always like that,” he said. “Even closer now.”

Mabel Tung, a prominent supporter of the Hong Kong protesters who lives in Vancouver, said some Hong Konger groups have lobbied the federal government since 2019 to impose sanctions on all heads of the Hong Kong government who allowed inhumane things to occur during the demonstrations.

She noted that the U.S. State Department had recently notified members of Congress that Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, will be barred from participating in the next Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be held in San Francisco later this year.

“Our government should follow our allies and bar leaders who violate human rights from entering Canada,” Ms. Tung said.

With reports from Xiao Xu and the Associated Press