Canada premier defends MP alleged to receive support from China in 2019 elections | World News - Hindustan Times
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Canada premier defends MP alleged to receive support from China in 2019 elections

Feb 28, 2023 02:56 PM IST

A report in the outlet Global News has alleged that Han Dong, a Liberal Party candidate from the Scarborough area of Toronto who contested the 2019 elections, was part of a ‘Chinese foreign interference network’

Toronto: Facing intense pressure related to recent revelations about Chinese interference in Canadian elections to benefit the ruling party, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended a sitting MP who allegedly received clandestine support from Beijing.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in parliament during Question Period in Ottawa, Ontario. (REUTERS)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in parliament during Question Period in Ottawa, Ontario. (REUTERS)

A report in the outlet Global News on Friday had alleged that Han Dong, a Liberal Party candidate from the Scarborough area of Toronto who contested the 2019 elections, was part of a “Chinese foreign interference network”. It cited classified reports from Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), in that regard and added that the candidate had been flagged to advisers to Trudeau.

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Trudeau defended Han Dong on Monday, as he said such “suggestions” were “actually damaging to people’s confidence in our democratic and political institutions”. “In a free democracy, it is not up to unelected security officials to dictate to political parties who can or cannot run,” he stressed.

Dong was elected in 2019 and retained his seat in 2021. Trudeau said, “Han Dong is an outstanding member of our team and suggestions he is somehow not loyal to Canada should not be entertained.”

Trudeau is facing pressure over reports from Global News and the Globe and Mail, that Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections worked out in favour of the ruling party and against the principal opposition Conservatives. There have been calls for an independent public inquiry in the controversial matter from retired senior officials including former National Security Adviser Richard Fadden.

Global News cited a December 20, 2021 report from CSIS that said the “Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the People’s Republic of China can support”.

Trudeau has already brushed aside a similar report from the Globe and Mail last week, as he expressed concern over top secret documents of the spy agency being leaked to the media. He has maintained that any such interference had no impact on the final results.

In an expose on February 17, the Globe and Mail noted, “China employed a sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canada’s democracy in the 2021 federal election campaign as Chinese diplomats and their proxies backed the re-election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals – but only to another minority government – and worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered to be unfriendly to Beijing.”

The report was based on CSIS documents. It added that “the intelligence reports show that Beijing was determined that the Conservatives did not win. China employed disinformation campaigns and proxies connected to Chinese-Canadian organisations in Vancouver and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), which have large mainland Chinese immigrant communities, to voice opposition to the Conservatives and favour the Trudeau Liberals.”

However, Beijing also preferred to restrict the Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a minority as it “likes it when the parties in Parliament are fighting with each other, whereas if there is a majority, the party in power can easily implement policies that do not favour the PRC”.

Among the opposition incumbents targeted in the operation, according to the report, were Kenny Chiu and Alice Wong in British Columbia and Indo-Canadian Bob Saroya in Ontario. Each of them lost in the September 2021 elections, which resulted in the Liberals returning to power with another minority government, having secured 160 seats as against 119 for the Conservatives.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb.

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