The Seditious Crime of Insulting China

"The activity that's being alleged [police stations] would be entirely illegal, totally inappropriate and would be the subject of very serious representations."

"[There is] growing evidence of foreign interference] in Canada by China."

"Evidence suggests that the largest source of foreign interference in Canada by state actors is coming from [People's Republic of China] sources [as per report from National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians]."

"It's really only in the last couple of years that the balance of conversation has shifted to them [Chinese-Canadian citizens] talking about how intimidated they feel within Canada, and the growing risk they feel for raising concerns, even within Canada."

"There is space for legitimate police liaison state to state, but the allegations reported in the press would fall well outside of that."

Weldon Epp, China specialist, Foreign Affairs Canada

 

"I don't think any of us are, to be honest, surprised."

"We've heard for a long time about people intimidated and threatened in this country."

Member of Parliament Heather McPherson Foreign Affairs critic, NDP

Police in the Chinese city of Fuzhou show off seized counterfeit money in this 2009 photo. Fuzhou security services have now set up at least three branch offices on Canadian soil. Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images

In actual fact, it has not been merely the last couple of years that Beijing has infiltrated Canada at every level, from business, science, elected representatives in governments at different levels, academia, in a deeply concerted strategy to extract commercial and national secrets to advantage China. From the installation of scientists at the most elite level, at Canadian science laboratories and universities, top-level executives at Canadian industries, and elected representatives in provincial and federal legislatures.

From the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Laboratory, to Nortel Networks, from Confucius Institutes in Universities to sitting members of the Canadian Senate, Beijing has called upon its expatriate community to invest themselves in furthering the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. It is not only by cyberespionage at which China excels, but espionage and appropriation of classified information at every level. Known, and tolerated until Beijing became a trifle too aggressively predatory.

Complaints of harassment by Canadian citizens of Chinese heritage have been amplified just lately, but they have occurred for years, when agents of the Chinese mainland have intruded on people's lives and harassed and intimidated Canadian citizens who express opinions contrary to Beijing's script. China's installation of its intrusive United Front Works Department keeping notes on expatriate Chinese domiciled as citizens in Canada applies pressure for cooperation with Chinese consulate offices in Canada through threats of harm to family members back in China.

A year ago, Beijing made it a crime against the state to criticize China, a crime punishable no matter where Chinese lived and where they had citizenship; China regards them all as Chinese citizens, ignoring their citizenship consonant on where they choose to live, to escape Beijing's totalitarian government. A report surfaced in September issued by the human rights group Safeguard Defenders which detailed the presence of over 50 'service stations' in operation globally; three located in Canada.

 

The 'service stations' are manned by Chinese police, and their purpose is to keep an eye on Chinese living abroad. So that when Chinese 'dissidents' with citizenship in other countries make disparaging remarks and publicly air opinions contrary to Beijing's stated vision, they are contacted by these police, threatened and forced to 'voluntarily' return to China to face judgement in a Chinese court of law for having insulted China; stiff punishment of incarceration meted out, to silence adversarial critics.

 

It is Chinese security services that operate these 'service' stations, not Chinese diplomats helpfully giving assistance for mundane and routine issues such as driver's license renewals and visas for expatriate Chinese, as claimed. "The pandemic made international travels not easy and quite a few Chinese nationals found their Chinese ID cards and/or driver's licenses expired or about to expire, and yet they could not get the ID renewed back in China in time", was the helpful explanation given by the Chinese Embassy in Belfast.

 

"Involuntary return" has become a system through which China compels its expatriate population to return home to stand trial and face punishment for daring to violate Chinese law while abroad. Beijing, to demonstrate just how successful this initiative to control Chinese no longer living in China itself has been, boasted of 230,000 Chinese having been "persuaded to return" on a number of different charges. 

 

Canada, Professor Epp informed the parliamentary commission he spoke before, has failed to file a diplomatic complaint with Beijing over the presence of these stations on Canadian soil, although an RCMP investigation is taking place. Canada does in fact, have bilateral treaties with some nations such as the U.S. which established an intelligence post in Toronto linked to the New York City Police Department in the wake of 9/11. Postings agreed to by all concerned. Which is certainly not the case with China's intrusive police presence in Canada.

 

Aileen Calverley with Hong Kong Watch testifies before a House of Commons committee regarding reports that the People's Republic of China has opened three police stations around Toronto. "With the police stations, they can intimidate people like us," she said. Photo by Parliament of Canada