After the parliamentary elections in Canada two years ago, there was apparently high spirits in the Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver. A particularly China-critical MP of the Conservative Party missed the re-entry into parliament. Hong Kong-born Kenny Chiu had previously introduced a bill to make foreign influence operations more difficult. Chiu subsequently became the target of a disinformation campaign on Chinese-language social media.
Friederike Böge
Political correspondent for China, North Korea and Mongolia.
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Sofia Dreisbach
North American political correspondent based in Washington.
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After he was voted out of office, the then Consul General Tong Xiaoling rejoiced. She boasted that she had contributed to the electoral defeats of two candidates. The "strategy and tactics" of the consulate had proven their worth. So it says in a confidential document of the Canadian secret service CSIS, from which the newspaper "The Globe and Mail" quotes.
The Chiu case is just one example of how China has apparently tried to influence Chinese-born voters in Canada. The Chinese leadership has urged its consulates to develop strategies to "use as leverage" politically active individuals and associations of Chinese-born communities in Canada, according to an analysis by the intelligence service. The connection of the clubs to the People's Republic of China is deliberately concealed.
The accusation is not entirely new. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted last year that China had tried to influence the parliamentary elections of 2021 and 2019. So far, however, he had been convinced that this approach had not changed the election result. He initially did not follow the opposition's demand for a public inquiry. After the intelligence documents were leaked to the media, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of a cover-up last week. Trudeau had ignored China's interference because it had benefited him politically.
Does Trudeau want to buy time?
Finally, the pressure on the prime minister apparently became too great: On Monday, he announced that the parliamentary committee on national security and intelligence would review "attempts at foreign influence" in connection with the elections of 2021 and 2019. In addition, the supervisory authority for the secret services NSIRA will check how the security authorities have reacted to the danger of foreign influence in the elections. In the coming days, Trudeau wants to appoint an independent special rapporteur to be involved in the investigation.
The Globe and Mail reported, citing the intelligence papers, that Chinese diplomats had supported disinformation campaigns against individual candidates. In addition, they had encouraged entrepreneurs to hire Chinese students as "volunteers" campaign helpers or to support selected MPs with campaign contributions. The money had been partially refunded to them. Journalists from Chinese-language media have been asked to portray the Conservative Party as too critical of China and warn that if the party wins the election, it will restrict Chinese students' study opportunities in Canada.