Um, Most Definitely Not Canadian

"I strongly condemn this kind of activity. I don't know in what degree they call themselves Canadian. I think they are taking advantage of the freedom of speech in western countries. "
"We all said our oath of citizenship. The moment we became a Canadian, we swore to be loyal to our adopted country and [to] abandon our loyalty to the home country."
"If they [Chinese-Canadians with a history serving in China's Peoples Liberation Army] are permanent residents, I suggest the government take this record into consideration [of their service with the PLA] when they apply for citizenship."
Anna Wang, Chinese-Canadian writer

"They took advantage of democracy, of the Canadian system."
"But communism, the PLA is not compatible with democracy and the rule of law. ... Before their nostalgia, there is a very bloody history."
Sherman Lai, retired PLA lieutenant-colonel, political scientist, adjunct professor, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario

"I am a soldier, from the common people." 
"I defeated the Japanese dog bandits, extinguished the army of Chiang Kai-shek."
"The revolutionary war tested me, and left me even stronger."
Maoist-era I am a Soldier song

"If you take on Canadian citizenship, then you sign up for a certain loyalty to our country, and particularly loyalty to our values, our way of life."
"[That may be incompatible with proud membership in a veterans group whose military reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party and contributes to] instability both domestically and internationally."
Christian Leuprecht, political science professor, Royal Military College

Singers dressed in the uniform of China's People Liberation Army perform at a concert in Richmond Hill, Ont.    Easyca.ca

In Western society, the Peoples Liberation Army of China is not in particularly pleasant odour. It  represents an oppressive Communist state order that brooks no dissent from its people. The PLA was involved in China's 'outreach' in Tibet to bring it into China's orbit, diminishing it from a sovereign nation to a Chinese dependency. Infamously the Tiananmen Square massacre of democratic protest fame owed much to the PLA's defence of the Chinese Communist Party, upholding its firm and implacable interests in subjugating its citizenry and brooking no dissent.

The aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Mashable

Canada has a huge expatriate Chinese community, Chinese-Canadians who emigrated from China over a hundred years ago, and those who became recent immigrants, along with those from Hong Kong who don't share the same values as those from the mainland. Last year, a new Canadian association for Chinese Veterans was launched, bringing together immigrants formerly with the Peoples Liberation Army of China as a social group. Named Canada Chinese Veteran’s Society, they recently staged a celebratory get-together, with performers singing in a choir songs reflecting their home country's past and future.

Other Chinese-Canadians in the expatriate community are critical of the staging of this event, finding it un-Canadian and representative of a Chinese perspective that not all Chinese-Canadians share. The divisions in the Chinese-Canadian community over support for the Hong Kong demonstrations and those critical of them have created unease and friction within the community, each accusing the other of disloyalty; one to the Chinese cause, the other to Western democracy as exemplified by Canada's values as opposed to those of China's Communist ruling party.

A rising vocal support for Beijing among diaspora Chinese has brought a backlash from the majority of Chinese-Canadians who see little of value in Communist China, and cling to democracy they find in their lives in Canada, eschewing Chinese political values for Canada's equality and freedom choices in democracy. The launching of the veterans' group seems to be synchronized with latent heritage sentiments aligned with a rise abroad in the diaspora in support of China's elevation of its power and influence structures.

A group salutes in unison the flags of Canada, China and the PLA  Easyca.ca

Registered as a federal non-profit corporation, the group gathers for meetings while serving food and drinks and enjoying Chinese celebratory performances. Last year, the group saluted at one such event, the flags of Canada, China, and the PLA, where relaxed veterans reproduced the high-stepping marches as a signature Chinese style, before a People's Republic flag. At the more recent concert in Richmond Hill just north of Toronto, various Chinese performers entertained, with the group's choir singing two songs: Love in Canada, and I am a Soldier, reflective of the Mao era.

The Canadian writer Anna Wang has just published her book with first-hand observations of the Tiananmen protests; herself a native of Beijing, her book titled Inconvenient Memories, she suggests the veterans' group leaders are likely China loyalists -- with the bulk of the membership nostalgic-motivated immigrants from China revelling in fond memories of their youthful days in China.

There is nothing particularly different in this situation from social groups launched by other immigrant groups from Italy, Germany, Portugal, Vietnam, Sudan, Lebanon or Sri Lanka, as an example, who celebrate their heritage, recall their cultures in their home countries and invite other non-similar-ethnic Canadians to come and share in the festivities, the food and the entertainment.

It's just that China in particular has become a world bully, and its recent offensive against Canada has been beyond troublesome, even while global attention is focused on its oppression of ethnic groups from within.