Canada quietly discussed foreign interference with China 48 times in two years – National
Canadian diplomats have quietly but frequently expressed concerns about foreign interference and surveillance with their Chinese counterparts over the past two years, according to newly released documents.
A document released Friday by the Foreign Interference Commission reports a total of 48 “representations” to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since September 2022. The general topic of “foreign interference” has been raised a total of 31 times, including four official diplomatic letters.
The document also shows that Canadian officials raised Chinese “police stations” abroad 20 times, surveillance balloons twice and two meetings with a former PRC diplomat, Zhao Wei, who was expelled from the Canada due to concerns about foreign interference.
This is a more discreet part of the federal government’s overall response to foreign interference: covert operations aimed at shaping Canadian domestic politics primarily from the PRC, but also from countries like India, l Iran and Russia.
But the document shows that, away from the public eye, Chinese officials were fully aware that the federal government was concerned about their alleged interference in Canadian affairs.
David Morrison, deputy minister of international trade and former national security adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told the commission that “maintaining a lively and ongoing discussion with foreign states, even those that oppose” is an aspect central to the fight against foreign interference. .
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“This, according to Mr. Morrison, is the essence of diplomacy: how to maintain a relationship with a government that can be confrontational, deal with a diversity of subjects and manage the back and forth, the exchange of views. relationship,” Morrison told commission lawyers.
Sometimes these diplomatic exchanges make headlines – like when Trudeau had a difficult exchange with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the issue on the sidelines of a G20 summit in 2022. Xi apparently disputed the details of the two’s discussion leaders on foreign interference. “leak” in the Canadian media.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry called the allegations of foreign interference “absurd”.
Details and documents made public by the Commission on Foreign Interference, headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue of the Quebec Court of Appeal, tell a different story.
Hogue’s investigation is nearing the end of its second phase of public testimony from senior security officials, civil servants and politicians into interference in the 2019 and 2021 general elections.
The investigation was prompted by media reports, first by Global News, about the extent of foreign interference in Canadian democracy and repeated warnings from the Trudeau government on the issue.
In his preliminary report released in May, Hogue confirmed that foreign powers attempted to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, but that Canadians ultimately decided both elections.
Hogue’s findings, along with the assessment of several Canadian security and intelligence agencies, show that the Chinese government poses the most significant threat in foreign interference operations.
The commission will continue to hear testimony over the next two weeks, including from senior civil servants, political staffers and ministers – including Trudeau himself on October 16.
With the next federal election approaching, Hogue’s final report on foreign interference is expected by the end of the year.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
