Edmund Wan, also known as 'Giggs', in Vancouver on May 12, 2023.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Hong Kong national-security police recently threatened a man from the city, who is seeking refuge in Canada, after he reneged on a deal to spy for China on prodemocracy activists living in Vancouver, according to an audio recording obtained by The Globe and Mail.
This is one of the rare instances where a recording has surfaced of someone being intimidated in Canada by a Chinese state-security official.
Dissidents, however, have been warning for years that Beijing has been bullying Hong Kong pro-democracy supporters as well as Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners abroad.
In a February, 2024 recording of the telephone conversation provided to The Globe, an unnamed national-security department officer complains that the man is not “co-operating with us” and issues veiled threats: “How is your life? … You will have consequences.” The Globe is not identifying the individual whose family is at grave risk in Hong Kong.
The national-security department is part of Hong Kong’s police force, with a mandate to enforce the 2020 national-security law that has seen authorities jail political opponents and force civil-society groups and outspoken media outlets to disband.
When the man, now residing in Vancouver, said “I’ve never co-operated with you. I won’t co-operate with dogs,” the national-security officer replies, “We’ll definitely find you. We can find you by phone. Why wouldn’t we find you? Where could you hide?”
“You don’t appreciate the chance you have been given, right,” the national-security officer asks. “Don’t you remember what you told us before?”
The taped conversation was provided to The Globe by Edmund Wan, a former Hong Kong radio commentator and supporter of the pro-democracy movement, who was jailed for almost two years in Hong Kong’s Shek Pik and Stanley prisons. He was accused of sedition and raising funds to provide legal assistance for youth facing pro-democracy charges.
The Hong Kong government charged and convicted Mr. Wan of money laundering. After his release from jail, he came to Canada in 2023. Mr. Wan provided the tape of his friend’s conversation to The Globe and posted it in on his Cantonese-language YouTube channel.
Mr. Wan said his friend came to Canada in 2022, and then returned to Hong Kong. The police confiscated his passport and would not let him leave for Vancouver unless he agreed to spy on the pro-democracy movement.
“He had a deal with the Hong Kong authorities to leave Hong Kong and that he would provide some information on Hong Kong people in Canada,” Mr. Wan said. “He broke the promise and then the police said ‘you promised to co-operate with us and you broke the promise.’ ”
But he did not co-operate, Mr. Wan added, “so that is why the police force have this conversation with him.”
Mr. Wan said he has heard similar stories of others who have been contacted by Hong Kong police to put pressure on them to stop criticizing China or inform on people within the pro-democracy movement.
Gloria Fung, Toronto-based President of Hong Kong Link, said Hong Kong police have been put under the thumb of China’s Ministry of State Security to conduct transnational repression against Hong Kongers living in Canada and other Western countries.
“They are threatening the safety of Hong Kongers in Canada for the purpose of silencing them or to co-opt them so that they be willing to become informers,” she said. “We have also identified other cases where Hong Kongers have been co-opted to report on the activities and personal information on Hong Kong activists who are involved in Canada.”
Hong Kong activists in Canada want hotline due to ongoing intimidation
Last year, Hong Kong Watch, a British-based group whose patrons include Chris Patten, the last governor of the former British territory, published a briefing on people from Hong Kong facing intimidation in Canada. The report included four case studies in which people active in the pro-democracy movement and the Hong Kong community said they were watched or threatened.
The report said all four individuals have reported their experiences to the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The harassing and threatening messages were received by members of the New Hong Kong Culture Club (NHKCC), a group of Canadian supporters of democracy in Hong Kong that has branches in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The organization has also been dedicated to helping asylum seekers from the Chinese territory.
In one case, a core member with the group received a message on the organization’s Telegram channel in February from an anonymous sender suggesting that she “have fun” on her planned trip to Japan and adding that she should “keep an eye on” her daughter. The report says the member was shocked by the information because her personal travel was not publicly disclosed information.
In another case, an individual received extremely graphic videos, including a woman suffering heavy bleeding after banging her head, and a video of a beheading.
“Karma for the New Hong Kong Culture Club,” read a caption sent after the videos. This targeted individual also received messages revealing an anonymous sender’s knowledge of her personal life, such as her workplace address and the name of her partner.
These individuals’ names were not disclosed in the report but The Globe and Mail viewed the screenshots of these messages.
The brief also includes the case study of Paul Cheng, one of the founders of NHKCC. Mr. Cheng told The Globe in 2021 about this experience after receiving a threat made against his life. He said he received several messages, including a picture of him from a Calgary protest against the Chinese government.
Another message addressed him directly: “Having lots of fun, eh, Paul? Don’t blame me for not reminding you that if you keep stirring up so much stuff, no one will be able to protect you.” It was followed by a video of a beheading.
With a report from Xiao Xu.