Global Café: The Hong Konger

Date: Thursday, March 16
Time: 6 pm
Location: Neatby-Timlin Lecture Theatre, Room 241 Arts Building, 9 Campus Dr., Saskatoon

Free and open to the public

About this event

The Global Café will be screening the movie The Hong Konger followed by a panel discussion with Samuel Chu, president of The Campaign for Hong Kong and Gloria Fung, president of Canada-Hong Kong Link. Dr. Martin Gaal (PhD), Department of Political Studies, and Henry Chan, USask student and co-director of Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong, will moderate the panel.

The Hong Konger is a documentary by the Acton Institute. When Hong Kong’s basic freedoms come under attack, media tycoon Jimmy Lai finds himself in the crosshairs of the state and must choose between defending Hong Kong’s long-standing liberties, or his own freedom. Jimmy’s story is one that cannot die in a prison cell—it is one that must reignite a persistent movement to defend the cause of freedom for Hong Kongers, for China as a whole, and humanity everywhere.

Sponsored by the University of Saskatchewan Department of Political Studies and the Saskatoon branch of the Canadian International Council

About the panelists

Gloria Fung is president of Canada-Hong Kong Link. She is dedicated to advocacy work supporting the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and the resettlement of Hong Kongers seeking refuge in Canada. She also convenes a national campaign of diverse multicultural communities promoting passage of a Foreign Influence Registry Act to combat foreign interference in Canada. A former national vice-president of the Chinese Canadian National Council, she has been active for many years promoting anti-racism, social justice and human rights.

Samuel Chu (朱牧民) is the president of The Campaign for Hong Kong. Most recently, Samuel was the founder and managing director of Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), the first-ever Washington DC-based, nonpartisan voice for Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and Hong Kongers in the US. Since 2019, Samuel has successfully advocated for the passage of landmark legislation such as the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in the US Congress and numerous other policies supporting Hong Kong internationally. In direct response, Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants against Samuel in July 2020, making him the first foreign citizen to be targeted under the National Security Law. In July 2021, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposed sanctions against Samuel and his organization, making it the first foreign entity to be targeted under the new anti-sanctions law. A first-generation immigrant from Hong Kong, Samuel is the son of the Rev. Chu Yiu Ming, co-founder of Occupy Central, which led to the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The elder Chu was later tried, convicted, and sentenced on protest-related charges in 2019.

Henry Chan is the co-director of Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong, a non-profit Hong Kong-Canadian community organization, and former advisor to the NGO Human Rights Manifesto. Henry is a member of a non-partisan nationwide advocacy team focused on the issues of Hong Kong and Canada-China relations. Since 2019, the advocacy team has completed over 80 meetings with MPs, Senators, government officials, and ministerial offices. In 2021, Chan was summoned to testify before the House of Commons Citizenship and Immigration Standing Committee to provide recommendations for the Hong Kong lifeboat scheme. Last year, Henry became one of the main organizers in the multiethnic advocacy team to urge our government to counter foreign interference on Canadian soil. In addition to advocacy work, Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong had been partnering with other organizations to organize panel discussions and civic education events for newcomers and youths.