It was only in May of this year that the Canadian government announced that a Chinese diplomat stationed in Toronto, Canada, had been expelled from the country for his involvement in a Chinese attempt to intimidate a Canadian Member of Parliament.
Canadian Foreign Minister Jolly described the Chinese diplomat as “persona non grata” and said, “We will not tolerate foreign interference in our domestic affairs in any form. The decision to deport him was made after careful consideration of all factors.
Not surprisingly, the Chinese government vehemently opposed this measure, saying that it would “resolutely take countermeasures. The issue was seen as a catalyst for a deeper confrontation between the two countries, partly because of the deep-rooted lingering friction over the detention of the vice chairman of Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei, which erupted in 2019.
In February of this year, the Canadian government banned the use of “TikTok,” a video posting application from China, because of its ‘unacceptable level’ of privacy protection and information security, and on October 30, it also announced that it would ban the use of the Chinese communication application “WeChat” for the same reason. Furthermore, Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that dozens of MPs had their accounts hijacked by an automated posting program called “bots” between August and September of this year, posting false information and propaganda on the counts of Prime Minister Trudeau and MPs. Moreover, as a follow-up, on November 1, it was announced that the U.S. Navy missile destroyer Rafael Peralta and the Canadian Navy’s frigate Ottawa had passed through the Taiwan Strait. It is believed that the series of incidents will further escalate tensions between the two countries,” said a reporter from the international section of a national newspaper.
However, there has been a great uproar over the content of an October 20 broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) investigative news program “The Fifth Estate. A reporter from the International Affairs Department said, “The theme of the program was the “war on terror” in the United States.
The theme of the program was China’s ‘secret police’ that is active around the world. Secret police are organizations set up by the Chinese government in various parts of the world under the guise of cracking down on cross-border crime, especially online fraud, and are ostensibly an organization that encourages overseas Chinese nationals targeted by the authorities to return home. On the surface, it is an organization that encourages Chinese nationals to return home, but in reality it is an organization that has long been viewed as a violation of human rights because it does not “encourage return home,” but forcibly brings back home their parents, siblings, and children who live in their home countries under threat of punishment by the “rendition system” if the target refuses to return home. According to the program, however, there is a deep connection between the Canadian government and the secret police, and in return for Canada’s favors in trade with China, etc., the government has been supporting the capture of fugitives from the country. Furthermore, the Canadian government is said to have given direct orders for this…. Criticism has already erupted from human rights groups, and the ripples are only getting louder.
According to the program, 33 Chinese nationals were deported from Canada between 2008 and 2010, and a former Canadian federal police investigator claims that he was instructed by the highest levels of the government to cooperate with his Chinese counterparts and mark the Chinese targets, knowing that if he were to hand them over to the Chinese side he would face execution and other serious charges. He testified that he could not disobey the instructions of the government officials, knowing that he would be executed or charged with a felony if he were to turn himself over to the Chinese.
If the reports are true, it means that Canada and China’s rivalry was only on the surface, and that behind the scenes they were ‘in bed’ with each other.
Prime Minister Trudeau has not commented on this report, but there are many Canadians who are demanding an immediate investigation into the truth.
（Rintaro Tou)
