intimidated MPs
Canada expels Chinese diplomats
05/09/2023 09:27 am
Canadian MP Michael Chong is a critic of the Chinese government and also has relatives in Hong Kong. Beijing is said to be planning sanctions against the MP and his family. Canada responded to the attempted intimidation by expelling a Chinese diplomat.
Canada’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it will expel a Chinese diplomat for allegedly intimidating an anti-China MP. Canada will “not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs,” said Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, declaring diplomat Zhao Wei “persona non grata.”
“We are determined to defend our democracy,” Joly said. Foreign diplomats in Canada have been warned that they will be sent home “if they engage in this type of behavior”.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Zhao Wei, an official at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, was told to leave Canada within five days. Local media had previously reported plans by Chinese intelligence to impose sanctions on parliamentarian Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong. Chong had voted in February 2021 for a motion denouncing Beijing’s human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region as “genocide.”
The planned sanctions are “almost certainly intended to make an example of this deputy and to prevent others from taking a position directed against the People’s Republic of China,” the newspaper “Globe and Mail” quoted a document from the Canadian intelligence service. Beijing said it had issued an official protest against violations of international law and diplomatic norms, and accused Canada of “deliberately undermining” ties with its second largest trading partner.
Canadian diplomat has to leave Beijing
China announced “determined countermeasures”. Canada must bear all the resulting consequences, the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement. Ottawa was urged to “step back from the abyss”. A little later, China asked a Canadian diplomat from Shanghai to leave the People’s Republic.
The announced expulsion comes amid months of tense Sino-Canadian relations. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing mounting pressure to take a tough line with Beijing after reports of alleged Chinese interference in his country’s last two general elections. In March he announced the appointment of an independent special rapporteur. The opposition parties had previously called for an independent public inquiry into the issue.