China's Concerns for 'Peace' Overseas

"Greater Vancouver has many Chinese emigrants, exchange students and tourists, and incidents of injury, illness, disappearances, detention, fraud, and so forth involving Chinese citizens remain frequent."
"In order to adapt to a new era, and new higher expectations of excellence in overseas public service and effectiveness in overseas legal defence, it is necessary to innovate new approaches and elevate the effectiveness of consular protection."
"The volunteer mechanism is fully making use of the advantages of the emigrant community, developing working synergy, and helping the consulate to provide good consular services, giving overseas Chinese emigrants and Chinese citizens a feeling of safety and benefit."
China's Vancouver Consulate website

"I believe that there's more to the consulate's efforts than simply training consular volunteers, and that they may be looking to enlist Chinese citizens, and even Canadians, to promote the Communist Party's political agenda."
"Politically motivated outreach to Chinese citizens who are living short-term or studying in Canada is also questionable, especially if it encourages them to act against the interests or policies of their host country, Canada."
David Mulroney, former Canadian ambassador to China

"I have never heard of such an arrangement by any other nations. Of course, most embassies and consulates would have locally engaged staff to assist their diplomats with this kind of thing."
"[The creation of a volunteer corps does] fit into the official Chinese Communist Party rhetoric that Canada is a hostile and dangerous place for ethnic Chinese so they should identify with and seek the protection of the PRC authorities."
Charles Burton, senior fellow, Macdonald Laurier Institute

"When Canadian community groups and citizens are being recruited, trained and given tasks by the Chinese consulate, they are working on behalf of the Chinese government. They could easily become foreign agents, and their given tasks may interfere with Canada's internal matters."
"It is very important for our government, our media, and Canadian citizens to understand the potential serious consequence of this strategic move of the CCP."
Ivy Li, pro-democracy group Canadian Friends of Hong Kong

Pro-China counter-protesters, wearing red, shout down a man in a black shirt during an anti-extradition rally for Hong Kong in Vancouver on Saturday August 17, 2019.   Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The world's tyrants use any means at their disposal to infiltrate other nations' administrations and threaten their sovereignty. The Kremlin, famously, speaks of ethnic Russians long resident in parts of eastern Europe from the years of the Soviet Union, requiring Russia's intervention to ensure the safeguarding of their Russian heritage, language and values. So far, only Georgia and Ukraine have suffered violent incursions and revolts incited by Moscow; the rest quaver and shelter under NATO's protective canopy.

Germany's large Turkish population, a result of the availability of cheap labour brought into Germany generations ago, has seen Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan officiously treat those German Turks as though their loyalty is to him and to Turkey and not the country where they have citizenship and where later generations were born and raised. China too has reached out its octopus arms to claim concern over the well-being of Chinese Canadians, most -- other than more recent expatriates from Hong Kong and Chinese students studying in Canada -- have been resident in Canada for a century.

As it is, there are divided loyalties among the Chinese diaspora; those more recent immigrants from mainland China have a different world view from those long established in Canada who came and were used in backbreaking work on cross-country railroads, then established themselves as small independent business people, becoming fully Canadian in the process. But it is the Chinese Communist Party's infiltration through its United Front Work Department and its connection to Chinese diplomatic posts that bring disquiet to Canadian intelligence services.

In late 2016 an English-language newspaper, the China Daily, published an article announcing the inauguration of "consular liaison volunteers" to serve Chinese embassies and consulates abroad. "An increasing number of Chinese people travelling around the world for business or tourism [who] encounter problems as they go" ostensibly led to the launching of this new 'service' staffed by civilian volunteers living in the countries where Beijing has established diplomatic posts.

A photo of the volunteer group, whose recruits include some prominent Chinese-Canadian community leaders, on the consulate page. Consulate of China

Chinese living in Canada are enjoined to volunteer, to "carefully pay attention to the safety situations of their home area, strengthening communication with the consulate". As volunteers they are expected to be "excellent representatives of overseas Chinese people and encouragers of friendship between the Canadian and Chinese peoples". So now a volunteer corps exists, representing Chinese Canadians with influence through their business holdings in the community, a fledgling volunteer system speaking in Canada on behalf of the Chinese government.

According to the director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, Gordon Houlders, China has always been interested in the Chinese diaspora, and Canada is aware of the activities by its diplomats, with Canadian authorities wary that coercion is not involved or pressure of any nature. The problem lies with intention to rally Chinese Canadians in support of PRC policies. 

"In short, contact with Chinese nationals in Canada is one thing. But where China might be engaged in efforts to shape the views of the broad Chinese-Canadian community or to push a particular point of view, that is another matter."
"...If the point of the campaign is ... focused on loyalty to a foreign state, t hat is quite distinct."

The Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver representative of over 100 Chinese associations earlier in the year took out large advertisements in Chinese-language newspapers denouncing Hong Kong protesters as "radicals", appearing to support the Chinese Communist Party position on an extradition bill that was proposed between China and semi-autonomous Hong Kong that saw the growth of mass protests in Hong Kong, calling for respect for Hong Kong's sovereignty, and calling for greater democracy in the city-state.

The United Front Work Department, allied with Chinese diplomats reminded Chinese students in Canada of their pledge of loyalty to the Chinese government, inciting them to go out and protest against the Hong Kong rebellion, and clash with Chinese Canadians who rallied in public support of the Hong Kong demonstrations. Former Ambassador Mulroney expressed his interest in whether the Vancouver Chinese consulate had consulted with Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs relating to "an activity that appears to involve recruiting people in Canada to work for a foreign state".

The current government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is prepared to bow to Chinese pressure; the prospect of greater trade opportunities for Canada with China has the final word with the Liberal Party of Canada.

Pro-China counter-protesters cast shadows on a Chinese flag as they shout at Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protesters holding a rally in Vancouver in August. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press