Canada, a country of immigrants, is also outraged by China’s election intervention and hostage operation

Canada Joins West’s Diplomatic Boycott of China… Diplomats of both countries

Canada is a country where various races live together enough to be called ‘the country of immigrants’. As of 2021, there are about 1.7 million Chinese immigrants (including those from Hong Kong), accounting for 4.7% of Canada’s total population (about 36.9 million). In Toronto alone, Canada’s largest city, 10% of its total population of 2.79 million is Chinese. As the Chinese population is large, Chinese voters have exerted considerable influence in general elections and state-level local elections. There are also quite a few exiled figures in Canada who opposed the Chinese Communist Party.

The Chinese government has been operating so-called “secret police stations” in major cities in Canada to manage overseas Koreans. In December of last year, a human rights group based in Madrid, Spain, ‘Safeguard Defenders’ revealed that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security was operating a secret police station abroad under the name of ‘Overseas 110 Service Center’. The human rights group said the Chinese government has operated secret police stations in 102 locations in 53 countries, monitoring and intimidating Chinese nationals residing abroad. According to the group, there are three Chinese secret police stations in Canada, one in Toronto, one in Vancouver and one in Brossard.

Relations between the two countries are falling into a worst situation after it was revealed that the Chinese government actively intervened in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian general elections to win candidates from the ruling Liberal Party. Canadian media obtained secret documents from the country’s intelligence agency, the CSIS, and the Chinese government mobilized a large number of international students and Koreans to extend the power of the Liberal Party, which is conciliatory to the country, and at least 11 Liberal Party candidates in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian general elections. reported to have supported It is said that he illegally donated cash to Liberal Party candidates by using Chinese communities and associations in Canada. It also revealed that the Chinese government mobilized international students in Vancouver and Toronto to spread false information about opposition Conservative Party candidates. There are about 100,000 Chinese international students in Canada. China’s meddling in Canada’s general elections is believed to have been led by the secret police. The Liberal Party has taken a more compromising stance with China than the opposition Conservative Party.

This report sparked a huge controversy in Canadian politics. At the strong insistence of the Conservative Party, Canada’s parliament passed a resolution calling for a public inquiry into allegations of Chinese meddling in the general election. In the end, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to investigate allegations of Chinese meddling in the general election and appointed a special investigator. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on parliament to investigate allegations of outside influence in the election.

The Chinese government denies interfering in the general election, saying, “We have no interest in meddling in Canada’s internal affairs.” Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie separately at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi, India on March 3. No country interferes in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.

On the other hand, most Canadians believe that China may have intervened in their national elections. Canada’s federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has launched an investigation into the Chinese secret police department. “We are very concerned about the existence of a Chinese secret police station in Canada,” Trudeau said.

Relations between China and Canada have been deteriorating ever since the 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Huawei, China’s largest telecommunications company. At the time, the Canadian government arrested and detained Meng at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the US government. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, has been wanted by a US court for violating sanctions laws by exporting Huawei products to Iran since 2016. The U.S. government requested the Canadian government to extradite Meng’s recruits in accordance with the extradition agreement. Meng then filed a lawsuit with a Canadian court to block the extradition and was placed under house arrest during the trial.

Nine days after Meng’s arrest, the Chinese government arrested and detained two Canadians on charges of espionage. The Chinese government’s intention at the time was to pressure the Canadian government not to turn Meng over to the United States. The Chinese government also took economic retaliatory measures, such as suspending imports of Canadian pork and canola oil. U.S. federal prosecutors made a decision to suspend prosecution of Vice Chairman Meng, and Vice Chairman Meng was also released in September 2022 and returned to China, but China and Canada have been sharply confronted since then.

The Canadian government has joined the “diplomatic boycott” of Western countries such as the United States, such as not sending a government delegation to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Canada has also banned the use of Huawei equipment on 5G networks for national security reasons. The leaders of the two countries also showed a scene at the G20 summit in November last year. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Trudeau and publicly protested, saying, “All of the conversations we had at the summit were leaked to the media,” and “this is inappropriate.” At the time, President Xi even cut off the interpreter’s remarks in the middle, saying, “We need to communicate better with an attitude of mutual respect. Otherwise, it is difficult to speak about the results.”

Conflicts and confrontations between the two countries continue to this day. The Canadian government recently banned Chinese companies from using the video-sharing platform TikTok across all government departments and agencies. This follows sanctions from the United States and the European Union. The Canadian government pointed out that “TikTok’s data collection practices may leave users vulnerable to cyberattacks.”

The two countries also fought over the ‘reconnaissance balloon’. The Canadian government accused the Chinese government of using reconnaissance balloons to conduct reconnaissance activities in its airspace and waters, and the Chinese government refuted that the balloons were for scientific research.

Conservative Party of Canada MP Michael Cheung. [캐나디언프레스 제공]

As the Chinese government’s “hostage operation” against a Canadian lawmaker was exposed, there was also a head-on collision between the two countries, such as expelling diplomats from each other. According to what Canadian media obtained and reported on secret CSIS documents, the Chinese government tried to pressure Conservative MP Michael Cheung, who has been actively raising human rights issues in the Xinjiang Weiwuyue (Uighur) Autonomous Region, by killing his relatives living in Hong Kong. that it has been observed. Senator Cheung, the son of immigrants from Hong Kong, has been included in the list of people subject to sanctions by the Chinese government for leading a Canadian parliamentary resolution in 2021 that defines China’s oppression of the Uyghurs as “genocide.” Senator Cheung had cut off contact for years, fearing that if the identities of his relatives in Hong Kong were identified, he would become a target for systematic repression by the Chinese government. Nonetheless, Chinese diplomats have collected various information and passed it on to their government as part of a background investigation on Rep. Chung.

On May 8, the Canadian government deported Zhao Wei, consul at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, who had been collecting information on Chung, as a persona non grata. In response, the Chinese government took the same action on May 9 to Consul Jennifer Lalonde, a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai.

President Yoon Seok-yeol (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for a commemorative photo at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit held at the IFEMA International Conference Center in Madrid, Spain, on June 30 last year (local time). [동아DB]

What is noteworthy is that the Chinese government even warned the Canadian government of retaliation in relation to this action. The Chinese Embassy in Canada warned, “The Canadian government must take responsibility for all consequences of the deportation measures.” Hyeonaewolf, which means ‘to come to your senses only when you are in danger’, is a four-character idiom used by China to warn other countries of strong retaliation. It is said that China may take retaliatory measures against Canada in the future, including in the field of trade. Prime Minister Trudeau responded by saying, “I will not be afraid of any retaliation.”

In its recent Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, the Canadian government characterized China as an “increasingly disruptive global power” and further strengthened military, security, trade and diplomatic ties with Indo-Pacific countries to contain China. decided to strengthen The Canadian government also proposed the establishment of a new security cooperation system, the “New Quad,” with South Korea, the United States and Japan. The new quad is different from the existing quad (the security consultative body of the US, Japan, Australia and India). It is extremely unusual for Canada, which has been cooperating with the United States in security cooperation, to propose a ‘security consultative body’ first, and it can be seen as a strong expression of its will to contain China.

<This article
Weekly Donga

Published in issue 1390>

Janghoon Lee International Affairs Analyst [email protected]

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.