“Canadians who seek election in ridings with large mainland Chinese populations are likely well aware of the risks of publicly associating with people who oppose the CCP”: CSIS on Repression Strategy.

By Stanley Tromp | The Bureau

A report from November 2022 by Canadian Security Intelligence Service sheds more light on the extraordinary scale, scope, and drivers of China’s state intelligence efforts against two million citizens of Chinese origin, some of whom potentially face detention “overseas” for their internet commentary.

Summary

The heavily redacted CSIS report, “PRC Transnational Repression Poses Evolving Threat to Chinese-Canadians,” obtained by The Bureau through the Access to Information Act, highlights Beijing’s use of “extraterritorial enforcement,” where Chinese laws are applied over foreign jurisdictions, including detaining or warning overseas nationals for anti-CCP comments.

The report aligns with concerns raised by MP Michael Chong, who noted that PRC agents in the U.S. pressured individuals to travel to Toronto for heightened interrogations, suggesting Canada is seen as a safer environment for such operations. Chong himself was targeted by China’s secret police in 2021 through a Toronto Consulate official.

CSIS asserts that China aims to extend its internet censorship and repression into Western countries, targeting the Chinese diaspora to undermine trust in democratic institutions. The report details a cyber campaign targeting Uyghur activists and journalists in Canada, with attackers using malware-embedded posts to monitor their activities.

Coinciding with the rise of President Xi Jinping, China has centralized its intelligence apparatus to tighten ideological control over the diaspora, using coercion, surveillance, and intimidation. Canada, a haven for Chinese political and religious dissidents, has seen increased PRC efforts to co-opt the diaspora through agencies like the United Front Work Department, targeting and leveraging families for foreign interference.

PRC students in Canada, numbering around 150,000 in 2020, have echoed CCP stances and participated in pro-CCP activities, often supported by Chinese diplomatic missions. The PRC’s “Five Poisons”—Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong adherents, Chinese democracy activists, and the Taiwan independence movement—face significant repression.

The CSIS report also notes the presence of Chinese police stations in Canada, which Beijing defends as “service stations” but which are seen as violating international norms.

In terms of potential electoral interference by China, CSIS notes public awareness has grown but Ottawa has yet to implement the Countering Foreign Interference Act.

The original report is available at the publisher’s website here.