Politic?: Canada's Unabashed Fifth Column

"Canada started the war. When you keep on attacking China, it sometimes translates as attacking the Chinese community."
"Why don't we leave the destiny of China to the Chinese people who live inside? ...Any time you're interfering, what happens? You just raise the nationalism."
"This is the concern that was expressed to me by many Mainland Chinese [immigrants]. They'd call me: 'What's going on with the leader [of the federal Conservative party]?"
"Who started the war first? Canada did. They arrested Meng Wanzhou [CFO of Huawei]. Then China arrested the two Michaels [Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on trumped-up nationsl security charges]."
"If China feels that Taiwan is part of China, they have a right to fly their planes over [Taiwan's air space]."
Joe Li, York Region councillor, 3-time former Conservative candidate

"[The Chinese Communist Party represents a] clear and rising threat [to Canada]."
"Our quarrel is not with the people of China -- part of an ancient civilization that has contributed much to humanity. We stand especially with Chinese Canadians whose contributions to Canada are immeasurable and who are enduring an appalling rise in anti-Asian hate and discrimination."
Conservative Party election platform preamble

Due to a private members bill critical of China that Conservative Kenny Chiu introduced last April, he was hounded by supporters of the Chinese Communist Party during the federal election. Photo by Jason Payne/Postmedia/File

Beijing has tentacles everywhere. It interferes in other countries' politics, social and educational systems, depending on its expatriate Chinese community to uphold CPC values, calling upon their loyalty to the mother country to act on its behalf to influence governments at every level. In Canada's just-held election last month Chinese actors actively engaged Chinese Canadians against voting for the Conservative opposition party in Parliament, succeeding in manipulating the vote in favour of the ruling Liberal party that has hesitated to do anything to annoy Beijing.

Former Member of Parliament Kenny Chiu [he lost his seat in the September election] defeated by 3,000 votes, spoke of Chinese-language news and social media disseminating disinformation on the position taken by the Conservative party on China. He had tabled a private member's bill for a registry for foreign agents to be set up. An organized campaign ensued to distort the message and state-run Chinese media accused the Conservative leader of an anti-Chinese bias, persuading Chinese-Canadians away from voting for the party.

Beijing famously bristles at any criticism of its policies and its values, its human rights abuses. And nor will it tolerate any interference in its internal affairs, whether it relates to animosity it arouses in its neighbours, around claiming ownership of the South China Sea, its challenge to India over their Himalayan border line, its imprisonment and persecution of vast numbers of Uyghurs, its treatment of Tibetans, and any number of other abusive actions, including its diplomatic and trade war with Australia.

Now the Chinese Canadian Conservative Association advocates less confrontational measures of diplomacy against China by Canada. The puny middle-power nation against the influential trade Goliath that is China which Canada's government hungers to establish good trade ties with, despite all the insults and diplomatic assaults Beijing has seen fit to hang on Canada from hostage diplomacy to trade war reflecting its displeasure of Canada's honouring an extradition treaty with the U.S. in holding Huawei's Meng on a US state department warrant.

The Liberal government, skewed by the Prime Minister's penchant for evading responsibility, acting not in the public interest but for the interest of aiding Canadian corporations establish a sound footing in China in hopes of deriving benefits out of its vast population, and leaning on every unethical method he can arrange to fulfill that purpose, maintains ties with Beijing through a diplomatic back door. And though Canada's intelligence counterparts in the West through the Five Eyes group have all cut Huawei Communications out of their 5G upgrades for reasons of espionage, Canada fears jeopardizing its trade potential with China.