China 'Foremost Perp' Of Foreign Influence In Canada

In her report, Hogue noted some diaspora communities are disproportionately affected by foreign interference. Targeted by China in its transnational repression efforts , five groups - dubbed the“Five Poisons” by Chinese authorities - particularly bear the brunt:

• Falun Gong adherents,
• Uighurs,
• Tibetans,
• supporters of Taiwan and
• those advocating for democracy in mainland China and Hong Kong.

It was chilling to hear Mehmet Tohti from the Uighur community tell the commission about a threatening phone call from Chinese state police announcing the death of his mother and two sisters in his homeland.

Grace Dai Wollensak from the Falun Gong community broke into tears when she recounted 25 years of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada.

Hogue's report validated the Chinese diaspora group's lived experiences and their observations about China's power and motivation to silence dissidents, amplify Chinese Communist Party narratives, control public opinion and sow discord in diaspora communities.

Through its United Front Work Department , an entity under President Xi Jinping's direct command that's aimed at shaping international discourse and orchestrating transnational repression, China manipulates democratic institutions to serve Communist Party interests by using rewards and punishments .

Via friendly community organizations or trusted contacts working on behalf of China , the United Front Work Department co-ordinates its foreign interference activities via Chinese embassies or consulates to target activists, dissidents and politicians .

The commission heard that Chinese diaspora members face frightening overt and covert tactics from Chinese consulates, dissuading them from full participation in Canadian public life if they don't align with China's interests.

While Hogue determined that foreign interference didn't determine which party formed a government in either 2019 and 2021, results in certain ridings may have been impacted. For instance, misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeted former Conservative Party leader and , a former MP from British Columbia, due to their criticisms of China's human rights record.

Hogue recognized that foreign interference in the last two elections has tarnished Canada's electoral ecosystem, compromising some voters' rights to make independent choices. That's a detriment to democracy.

From a diaspora perspective, protection from foreign interference and transnational repression is of the utmost importance .

As revealed in Hogue's initial report, there were obvious communication gaps among related government departments and agencies during both election periods. There was also a lack of co-ordinated effort and attention to specific warnings about foreign interference that were provided by security and intelligence agencies like the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) before and during both election campaigns. Diaspora communities were left unprotected because there were no warnings.

Diaspora communities have been failed by the government's efforts to address foreign interference. The government and political parties have seemingly only been concerned about the political implications and consequences, and not the harm caused to diaspora communities.

Ample intelligence reports on foreign threat activities have reached monitoring bodies such as the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force and the panel of five senior public servants tasked with monitoring foreign interference and issuing public warnings if they felt there was a threat to the integrity of the vote. The Prime Minister's Office was notified about these reports.

But the commission heard that no incident had been found warrant a public statement.

This is likely because protocols on what does warrant a public statement do not reflect the realities of diaspora communities. There was also a probable under-reporting of cases and evidence because diaspora community members lack access to public information. Tip lines are available only in English and French.

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Raising awareness

Despite the fact that the commission's mandate in the first stage was confined to the last two general elections, there may now be greater public awareness of the damage foreign interference has done to Canada's democratic system.

The commission heard about several disturbing incidents, including:

• the transfer of $250,000 for suspected foreign interference-related purposes,
• the Chinese consulate's involvement in transporting international students to a nomination contest in the Toronto riding of Don Valley North and
• the ostracization of vocal MPs perceived as threats by China.

But they're only the tip of the iceberg.

Hogue's initial report did not mention the struggles of diaspora communities because the members of those communities weren't sworn in as witnesses - they appeared at the first-stage hearings to raise awareness and provide context. They will likely appear as witnesses in the next phase of hearings, and their lived experiences should augment the intelligence reports and widen the scope of understanding about the threats and activities of state entities and their proxies in Canada.

Hogue has warned that foreign interference will not stop and indeed may become more intense in the future. The perspectives of those from diaspora communities on how to stop foreign interference can help strengthen Canadian democracy.

Maria Cheung is a researcher on social work at the University of Manitoba and Kawser Ahmed is an adjunct professor in the the Political Science Department at the University of Winnipeg .

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .