Sent November 8, 2022, 12:54 pm
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raises his voice against Beijing. China is playing “aggressive games” with Canadian democracies and institutions, it has warned that, for several years and since the Huawei affair, relations between the two countries have been very tense. .
“We have taken significant steps to strengthen the integrity of our electoral processes and systems […] we will continue to invest in the fight against electoral interference, against foreign interference in our democracies and our institutions ”, promised the head of the Canadian government. Before regretting the behavior of “state actors in the world, China or others”.
The Canadian government warned in January 2022
The cause of Justin Trudeau’s irritation? A report released Monday by the Canadian news site Global News claiming that Beijing had covertly funded a number of candidates in local elections.
If this is not the first time that Chinese interference in a Western country has been reported, the case is all the more unwelcome for Justin Trudeau since, according to Global News, his government had been warned of the situation by the intelligence agency of the services ( CSIS) already in January of this year. Obviously without arousing other reactions until the Global News reportage aired.
Beijing agents in the electoral teams
In detail, according to Global News, which cites anonymous sources, Beijing has made transfers of funds to 11 candidates in the 2019 federal elections. These transfers, supervised by the Chinese consulate in Toronto, would have passed through a deputy from the province of Ontario and a member of the team of at least one electoral candidate.
At least 250,000 Canadian dollars (about 185,000 euros) would be distributed by these intermediaries but also agents in the pay of Beijing, some of whom had managed to integrate candidate campaign teams to influence them. While for some this interference has often been at their expense, it is not always the case.
And according to Global News, some of the candidates have met with officials from one of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee structures (the United Front Labor Department or UFWD) which is considered the armed wing of Beijing’s interference policy.
Beijing denies
Many accusations have been denied by the Chinese authorities. In Beijing, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, reacted on Tuesday during a press conference by declaring that “relations between countries can only be built on the basis of mutual respect, ‘equality and mutual benefit’. And to add that” the Sino-Canadian relations are no exception, “while he warns Ottawa to change his tone.” Canada should stop making statements harmful to China-Canada relations. China is not interested in Canada’s internal affairs, “continued Zhao Lijian.
A version that the Canadian intelligence services do not share. Asked by the French-language newspaper La Presse about the Global News revelations, CSIS spokesman Brandon Champagne obviously did not confirm the information but did not mince words against Beijing. “The CSIS has determined that the interference of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Communist Party of China (CCP) in Canada, and their attempts to target Canadians, threaten national security,” he explained.
