Findings allegedly withheld from Trudeau align with PRC efforts to undermine candidates critical of Beijing. Exclusive analysis from Sam Cooper at The Bureau.

By Sam Cooper | The Bureau

Summary

In a tense exchange following his testimony before the Foreign Interference Commission, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced Conservative MP Michael Chong’s lawyer, Gib van Ert, over allegations of foreign interference involving expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei.

Canada expelled Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to intimidate Chong over his critical stance towards China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. Van Ert challenged Trudeau’s claims that Beijing’s actions against Chong were standard diplomacy, emphasizing the threat to Chong’s family in Hong Kong.

“Mr. Chong does not share your confidence that his family in Hong Kong will never be coerced or harmed,” Van Ert argued. “Hong Kong is not a democracy, and it does not respect freedom of political thought.”

Van Ert criticized the government’s delayed response to Zhao Wei’s activities, which Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had flagged as early as 2019.

The Foreign Interference Commission has heard both Michael Chong and former Vancouver-area Conservative MP Kenny Chiu were targeted by the Ministry of State Security (MSS) — which functions as China’s intelligence, security and secret police agency.

Chiu’s case is apparently considered by Canadian intelligence to be one of the most serious instances of Chinese election interference, consistent with activities described in several CSIS intelligence reports. These reports, the Commission heard, were blocked from reaching Trudeau.

Read this report in full at the publisher’s website here.