Canada-China Tensions: Chinese Immigrants Face Intimidation and Smears

TORONTO (AFP) – As Canada and China clash over allegations that Beijing meddles in Canadian affairs, the Chinese Canadian community is caught between intimidation by Chinese spies and growing smears. Named.

Each time there is a dispute between China and Canada, the most recent example was the expulsion of diplomats from each other earlier in May, which has brought more pressure on the Chinese community.

The Canadian Maple Leaf logo can be seen on Chinese-language signs hanging in busy shops and food supermarkets in Toronto’s historic Chinatown. Many people here seem reluctant to speak out about recent incidents of racism and threats.

Amnesty International has documented a number of allegations of harassment in recent years by human rights campaigners and minorities in Canada.

Some have accused undercover Chinese agents or agents of threatening Chinese Canadians, vowing revenge on their relatives back home.

“They use family connections in China or Hong Kong to threaten you,” Cheuk Kwan, co-chairman of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, told AFP recently.

Guan Zhuozhong, who was wearing a black leather jacket, said the tactics used included “death threats, verbal intimidation, or simply saying ‘We know where your parents live'”.

Dilnur Anwar, a Uyghur who immigrated to Canada in 2019 to escape persecution in China, has experienced such phone threats firsthand for years and receives them almost daily.

“I blocked those (phone) numbers, but it didn’t work because they kept calling from other numbers,” said Anwar, who now lives in Montreal.

“Sometimes I’m asked to go to the embassy, ​​sometimes I get an automated voicemail,” Anwar explained.

Ottawa and Beijing have been at loggerheads since 2018, when a senior Huawei executive was arrested by the United States in Vancouver and China subsequently detained two Canadian citizens in apparent retaliation.

This has since been followed by the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese “spy balloons” over North America, the discovery of secret Chinese police stations in Canadian cities, and allegations of Beijing meddling in Canadian elections.

In the light of these controversies, Chinese-Canadian immigrants and their descendants often come under additional scrutiny.

Many people of Chinese descent believe Ottawa urgently needs to act to stem the recent rise in racism.

Wu Tingting, co-founder of the Canadian Chinese Equality Association (Association for the Advancement), said that the government needs to “ensure that Canadians, including new immigrants, will not be interviewed by (Chinese secret agents) and will not face risks or threats from foreign countries.” .