Thank you for that question. It's extremely important.
We all know that the “one country, two systems” framework is gone. China doesn't even pretend very much that it still exists. It controls Hong Kong completely. In 2020, the U.S. revoked Hong Kong's autonomous status under U.S. law and I believe Canada has also. However, these Hong Kong economic and trade offices continue. Make no mistake, they're not about economic and trade issues. This is a de facto embassy for the Hong Kong government to conduct diplomacy and reach out to the people of Canada and the United States. In Europe, there have been espionage cases in the U.K. and Germany regarding actions that have emanated from those offices and their affiliates.
There's no justification for them. Even worse, the Chinese government hasn't put bounties on activists in Canada—the Hong Kong government has. How can Canada and the United States allow a city government to take such brazen actions? It's unconscionable.
In the U.S. there are three Hong Kong economic and trade offices. When Secretary Rubio was a senator, he wrote the bill to shut down those offices. We're pushing very hard in the United States to close those down based on those issues. Canada should do the same.