Despite U.S. warnings and sporadic enforcement, Canada’s failure to address hybrid warfare tactics—blending crime, economic coercion, and political subversion—has enabled China’s strategic beachhead.

In Brief by Probe International

Chris Meyer of WideFountain in discussion with journalist Sam Cooper of The Bureau examine findings from The Quiet Invasion—a groundbreaking investigation tracing the transformation of Vancouver from a hub of 1980s Chinese Triad infiltration to a nexus of modern transnational crime and hybrid threats.

From under-the-radar operations by Chinese Triads in the late 1980s, Canada now faces a crisis facilitated by encrypted communication networks, industrial-scale fentanyl production, and political influence. These networks, aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, have infiltrated Canadian institutions, leveraging systemic weaknesses—lack of anti-racketeering laws, political corruption (e.g., ties between Canadian leaders and Chinese entities like Poly Group and CITIC), and institutional complacency.

Canada is now seen as a security threat within U.S. intelligence and defense circles for its inability to turnaround the country’s opioid crisis and resistance to confronting ongoing issues of foreign election interference.

Despite U.S. warnings and sporadic enforcement, Canada’s failure to address the hybrid warfare tactics that have eaten away at the country’s security and integrity over decades—through crime, economic coercion, and political subversion—has enabled China’s strategic beachhead. Cooper and Meyer call for urgent legal overhauls, enhanced accountability measures, and cross-border collaboration to dismantle these networks and reclaim the region’s security.

View the discussion via The Bureau news channel here.