Canada-China Relations committee  If I could intervene for a second, I agree with Professor Cheung on his point. I would just like to add that I think the Magnitsky act would impose inconvenience on Hong Kong officials, but I have no doubt in my mind where their loyalty lies, where their political loyalty lies.

Canada-China Relations committee  I see it as a long-term strategy. We should really be working with like-minded countries and our allies—including the United States, ideally—to come up with long-term strategies that would help to bring about some long-term changes. I do believe that the fate of Hong Kong, including what the people on the streets of Hong Kong are asking for—universal suffrage and freedom of expression—is not a question of Hong Kong alone.

Canada-China Relations committee  We should just keep doing business in Hong Kong the way it is. Of course, there are a lot more restrictions now than there were a couple of months ago, but I think business goes on as usual. I think we should also keep doing business with China. It is only by maintaining the ties and engagement that we can keep the hope going.

Canada-China Relations committee  In the short run, businesses tend to be directed by where their interests and profits lie, but I believe that in the medium and long term, if governments guide businesses widely—that is, if we design suitable institutional designs—this would actually guide the incentives of businesses and help to steer the businesses away from authoritarian regimes.

Canada-China Relations committee  They are quite dependent, but they are not without options. My point is that we want to keep the dependency of Chinese capital on Hong Kong going, because as long as they are dependent on Hong Kong, they won't impose harsher repression on Hong Kong of the kind we have seen elsewhere in China, such as in Xinjiang and Tibet.

Canada-China Relations committee  My reason for hope is that we want to preserve Hong Kong the way it is for as long as possible, because the rest of mainland China looks very different. The rest of mainland China operates within the great firewall. We speak of repression in Hong Kong; it is nothing like the style and extent of the repression in mainland China.

Canada-China Relations committee  China's relationship with the U.S. is very different from the type of relationship it has with other western liberal nations. With regard to U.S. and China relations, I think they are strategic competitors. I don't think Canada and China are necessarily strategic competitors. The U.S. sees China's rise in technological dominance and in other sectors as that of a rising competitor, whereas for Canada I think in some areas there's more scope for collaboration.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for that question. It is an important one. I think that sanctions could have implications that go both ways. I would imagine that sanctions may be spun by the regime to shore up nationalism. They could be spun and framed as foreign sanctions versus China, and that will in turn help to bolster the regime.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for the question. It's an important one. In my view, the battle of Hong Kong is not a short-term game. We need to have a long-term trajectory. We need to be patient with it. Canada is a country that protects and preserves the liberal order. I think we should be helping to sustain the movement and the battle against a very huge authoritarian regime.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am grateful for this opportunity to appear before the committee. Let me begin with a statement of positionality. My perspectives on the situation in Hong Kong have been shaped by my work in and on China, first as a consultant and later as an academic, since the late 1990s.