Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-shing and his son, who both hold Canadian citizenship, have donated a total of over $15 million to the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), a law enforcement agency that has been instrumental in suppressing the city’s democracy.
Mr. Li contributed HK$40 million (C$6.9 million) to the Hong Kong police through the Li Ka-shing Foundation. His son, Richard Li, separately donated HK$50 million (C$8.6 million) to the Police Welfare Fund, as reported by state-owned media Ta Kung Pao on Aug. 7. These contributions were made amid the 2019 civil protest against the Hong Kong authorities’ proposed amendment to the city’s extradition law.
The 2019 protest, known as the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement, emerged from concerns that the law permits the extradition of fugitives to mainland China and signifies Beijing’s influence on Hong Kong’s judicial independence. The authorities and state media depicted the demonstrations as “riots.”
The father and son have reportedly aligned their views with the Chinese authorities’ official stance. As per Ta Kung Pao, Mr. Li Ka-shing’s donation was described as supporting “law enforcement’s efforts in maintaining order amid the unrest.” Likewise, Mr. Richard Li told the media outlet that the “stability and prosperity of Hong Kong society rely on the dedicated efforts of law enforcement on the front lines.”
The HKPF met intense international criticism for forceful response to the city’s pro-democracy movement in 2019. Instances such as the excessive deployment of tear gas and rubber bullets, coupled with accusations of police raping a detained female protester, garnered global attention and condemnation.
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the HKPF’s violation of international human rights law. The United States has further imposed sanctions on a number of Hong Kong officials and members of the police force, including Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-Keung, as well as the present and former Hong Kong chief executives John Lee and Carrie Lam.
Following the Hong Kong police’s involvement in quashing the 2019 protests, donations to the Police Welfare Fund saw a drastic downturn, plummeting by 85 percent in 2022, to a sum of less than HK$19 million dollars (C$3.28 million), as reported by local media HK01.
The Epoch Times reached out to both Mr. Li Ka-shing and Mr. Richard Li for comments but didn’t hear back by publication time. Mr. Li Ka-shing was contacted via the Li Ka-shing Foundation, while Mr. Richard Li was contacted through the Hong Kong-based Pacific Century Group, where he serves as chair.
Democratic Regression
Mr. Li Ka-shing, 95, has held the title of the richest person in Hong Kong for many years over the past decades. According to Forbes’s Real-Time Billionaire List, Mr. Li has an estimated net worth of about US$37.3 billion (C$50.5 billion) as of Aug. 18, positioning him as the foremost in Hong Kong and the 31st richest individual globally.Mr. Li established CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd., where he took the helm for nearly 70 years. In 2018, he retired as chairman of both companies, remaining as senior adviser, and passed his empire to his eldest son, Victor Li, who also holds Canadian citizenship.
Beyond his corporate endeavours, Mr. Li Ka-shing has significant personal investments in Canadian real estate. Previously, he was the largest individual shareholder of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, one of Canada’s top five banks, until he sold his 4.9 percent share in 2005 for $1.2 billion and donated the proceeds.
Additionally, the senior Mr. Li possesses a substantial ownership stake in Husky Energy, a Calgary, Alberta-based major oilsands energy company. Following Calgary-based Cenovus Energy’s acquisition of Husky Energy in 2021, Li’s ownership of Husky declined from just under 70 percent to 27.2 percent in the merged company, reported CBC News.
Mr. Li Ka-shing has played a central role in Hong Kong’s political landscape, particularly during the period leading up to the city’s return from British colonial rule to mainland China in 1997. He had met with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping twice prior to this event, once in 1986 and the second time in 1990.
Their second meeting took place at a state building in Beijing on Jan. 18, 1990. During this meeting, Mr. Li, asked about Beijing’s policy toward Hong Kong. Deng replied in Chinese: “It won’t change. It’s impossible to change it. It’s not that it won’t change in the short term, but in the long term. I have talked about this principle many times in the past, which is that it won’t change for 50 years [after Hong Kong’s handover]. After 50 years, it will be even more so that there will be no reason to change it.” A video of their conversation is posted online.
In 1984, China and the United Kingdom signed a joint declaration that established the “one country, two systems” policy, securing Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years, during which “its social and economic systems and lifestyle will remain unchanged.”
However, in 2017, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials made comments suggesting that the arrangements made under the joint declaration were “now history” and said it was “ridiculous for the UK to pose itself as a supervisor … on Hong Kong affairs,” according to a UK government July 2019 research briefing on the declaration and concerns about its status.
In the briefing, Alan Duncan, the British foreign minister for Europe and the Americas at the time, refuted this claim by Beijing and urged the Chinese regime “to uphold Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms.”
Threats Against Dissidents
Hong Kong authorities formally withdrew the proposed extradition bill in October 2019. However, Beijing imposed the national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, which criminalizes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign countries or external elements, and effectively broadening the jurisdiction set out in the extradition bill. The NSL not only covers those living in Hong Kong itself, but it allows the Hong Kong government to prosecute anyone outside its territory, including foreign nationals.Since the introduction of the NSL in 2020, the HKPF has issued arrest warrants targeting people outside China. They include warrants for the arrest of Canadians such as Victor Ho, in August 2022, a former chief editor for Canada’s Sing Tao Daily, and more recently Dennis Kwok, in July 2023, a former Hong Kong lawmaker who was born in Canada.
Global Affairs Canada expressed concerns at the time about the HKPF’s arrest warrants for Mr. Kwok and seven other pro-democracy activists living abroad, which included an HK$1 million bounty for each of the eight wanted activists.
Meanwhile, that same month, Canada granted visas for nearly 300 members of the HKPF to attend the World Police and Fire Games held in Winnipeg from July 28 to Aug. 6.
In a joint letter dated Aug. 8, 11 parliamentarians from different parties called on Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to investigate why visa waivers were issued to the HKPF members. UK-based Hong Kong Watch had earlier released a statement protesting Canada’s decision to issue the visas, saying its Canadian branch, Hong Kong Watch Canada, has formally called on the Canadian government to investigate the decision.
Members of the local Hong Kong communities in Winnipeg protesting participation of the Hong Kong police in the games reportedly encountered threats and mockery from members of the attending HKPF. Hong Kong rights advocacy group Winnipeg Hong Kong Concern has raised concerns about HKPF members photographing protesters and making threats against them.
The Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, another advocacy group, called the HKPF’s participation in the games “highly inappropriate.”
