Canada And China’s Diplomatic Tit-For-Tat Is A Warning For America

Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat early this week, and China retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat. The allegation of China’s aggressive political interference in Canada is at the center of this tension.

On May 1, The Globe and Mail, a Canadian media outlet, disclosed a 2021 top-secret assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the nation’s top spy agency. The CSIS warned that Beijing is the “foremost perpetrator” of foreign interference in Canada and that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operatives have employed “incentives and punishment” as part of their overseas operations, directly targeting Canadian legislators, business executives, and Chinese immigrants in the nation.

The CSIS assessment identified Michael Chong, a member of parliament (MP) from the Conservative Party, as one of the CCP’s targets. Chong, the son of a Chinese immigrant, is an outspoken critic of the CCP. In 2021, a non-binding motion sponsored by Chong to declare that the CCP’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslims constituted genocide was passed by the House of Commons 266-0. The Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu, condemned the motion and claimed, “There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang at all.”

Soon after, China put Chong and several other MPs on its sanction list. The CSIS alleged that Zhao Wei, a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Toronto, instructed Hong Kong authorities to locate Chong’s relatives in the city. Zhao sought to “make an example” of Chong and silence other China critics in Canada by going after Chong’s relatives.

Other than offering Chong a vague warning, CSIS never shared the specifics of its assessment with him in 2021. Chong only learned about it after The Globe and Mail contacted him recently. Since Chong cut off ties with relatives in Hong Kong years ago to protect them, he didn’t know if the Chinese authorities had hurt any of them due to his political activities in Canada. In a statement, Chong called Beijing’s political interference in Canada “a serious, national threat.” He accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of withholding the CSIS report from him for more than two years and failing to address “the foreign interference activities” of China.

Since March, the Trudeau government has struggled to deal with allegations of China’s meddling in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. CCP operatives reportedly helped keep China-friendly Trudeau and his Liberal Party in power while defeating several Conservative Party MPs who were critical of Beijing. When he first came to office, Trudeau vowed to improve Canada’s relationship with China and explored signing a free-trade agreement with Beijing.

According to CSIS, China’s sophisticated interference operations in Canada are managed by the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a CCP agency tasked with helping the party aggressively and yet covertly dictate its messages and narratives about China domestically and overseas. The CSIS report alleged the interference tactics UFWD deployed in Canada included utilizing Chinese diplomats and pro-Beijing Chinese-Canadian organizations to spread misinformation about Conservative Party MPs who are critical of the CCP; donating money to liberal organizations such as the foundation for Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, named after the father of Justin Trudeau; co-opting some Chinese language media to publish pro-Beijing articles; and spying on and silencing critics of the CCP, especially if they are ethnic Chinese who have families in China.

One of the most severe allegations was that China’s Toronto consulate “directed a large clandestine transfer of funds to a network of at least eleven federal election candidates and numerous Beijing operatives who worked as their campaign staffers” in 2019. China’s former consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, reportedly bragged about how she helped defeat two Conservative MPs in 2021. Tong has since returned to China.

Trudeau Slow to Act Under tremendous public pressure, Trudeau ordered an independent investigation in March to “help identify and combat foreign interference in Canada’s elections and its democracy.” This month’s revelation about China’s attempted intimidation operation against Chong only fueled more public furor that Trudeau has failed to prevent authoritarian regimes like China from undermining the nation’s democracy. Trudeau did an about-face by announcing the expulsion of Zhao Wei, the Chinese diplomat identified by the intelligence report.

China retaliated by ordering Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul at the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, to leave China. In addition, the Chinese government vowed to take other retaliatory measures to punish Canada. Given the precedent that Beijing wrongfully detained Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for nearly three years as political retaliation for Canada’s detainment of a high-level Chinese business executive, Canadian citizens and businesses in China are understandably concerned about whether they will become the next victims of Beijing’s hostage diplomacy.

China’s Australian Interference Canada wasn’t the only target of China’s foreign interference. In 2016, Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered an investigation into China’s interference in his country after Chinese-Australian businessmen with close ties to the CCP reportedly made campaign contributions and covered the expenses of a prominent politician in the Labor Party. The investigation led to an explosive intelligence report alleging Beijing has attempted to influence Australia’s political parties for years and “there had been infiltration at every layer of the Australian government, right down to local councils.”

The revelation prompted the Australian legislature to enact the Foreign Interference Law in 2018. But early this year, former PM Turnbull complained that the law wasn’t rigorously enforced, despite the fact that “the most active state and political party seeking to influence public affairs in Australia is that of China and the Communist Party of China — we know that.”

What happened in Australia and Canada illustrates how the CCP, under its leader Xi Jinping, has taken brazen actions that far exceeded legitimate diplomacy in exploiting other countries’ loopholes in their espionage and counterintelligence laws, infiltrating their political systems and seeking to influence and shape public opinions and policies by all means necessary. 

China’s Actions in the U.S. Undoubtedly, the CCP has conducted similar interference campaigns in the United States as in Australia and Canada. In 2020, a suspected Chinese spy, Fang Fang, reportedly developed extensive ties with local and national politicians in the U.S., including Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. The U.S. Department of Justice recently charged two individuals with the operation of an illegal Chinese police station in New York City, targeting ethnic Chinese who are critical of Beijing.

Early this week, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability presented evidence that foreign nationals, including those from China, sought access to then-Vice President Joe Biden through questionable business dealings with Biden’s family members and business associates. All these cases are the tip of the iceberg of the CCP’s meddling in the United States.

The CCP is unconcerned about repercussions whenever it gets caught because it has plenty of tools in its toolbox. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the CCP relies on “a range of economic and non-economic tools to punish, influence and deter foreign governments in its foreign relations.”

The U.S. government has been complacent and has been slow to counter China’s political interference. Canada and China’s diplomatic tit-for-tat should serve as a warning. Since another presidential election is coming, if President Biden is serious about defending democracy in the U.S., he should reach out to his counterparts in Canada and Australia and learn from their experiences in dealing with the CCP’s political interference, especially the mistakes they made.

The Biden administration must understand the CCP’s strategy and tactics and work with Congress to develop comprehensive measures to curtail the CCP’s interference operations in the U.S. and protect the integrity of our elections and Americans’ right to free speech.

Helen Raleigh, CFA, is an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She’s a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. Helen is the author of several books, including “Confucius Never Said” and “Backlash: How Communist China’s Aggression Has Backfired.” Her latest book is the 2nd edition of “The Broken Welcome Mat: America’s UnAmerican immigration policy, and how we should fix it.” Follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks. CanadaCanadian Security Intelligence ServiceChinaChinese Communist PartyCong Peiwuelection interferenceHong KongJennifer Lynn LalondeJustin TrudeauMalcolm TurnbullMichael ChongTong XiaolingUnited Front Work DepartmentXi JinpingZhao Wei

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