© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
China expelled Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lynn Lalonde on Tuesday (May 9), in response to Canada’s dismissal of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei on May 8. Zhao’s expulsion came after recent news reports, which alleged his involvement in a plot to intimidate and influence Canadians critical of China.
It is believed that Canada first expelled China’s diplomat based on a 2021 report of its intelligence agency. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had flagged potential security threats to Michael Chong, a Canadian MP, who criticised China’s human rights record.
On May 8, a statement issued by Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, “Canada has decided to declare persona non grata Mr. Zhao Wei. I have been clear: we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home.” However, the minister did not cite any specific reason.
China’s Foreign Ministry issued its statement the next day, saying, “As a reciprocal countermeasure in reaction to Canada’s unscrupulous move, China decides to declare Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai persona non grata…” In diplomacy, persona non-grata means another country’s diplomat has been recalled by their host country.
Ties between China and Canada have been strained for some time now. Here is what has happened so far.
According to the Canadian media organisation The Globe and Mail, the CSIS report is “an overview of Chinese government foreign interference in Canada, ranging from investigating a Conservative MP’s relatives in China to harassing a mainland Chinese student in Canada who publicly supported Hong Kong’s democracy movement.” The report also named Zhao and Chong.
Chong said he was not aware of any such plots against him, but that the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat was long overdue given recent issues in Canada about China’s influence on its politics. The Canadian government took its time to decide whether to proceed with the move, with both Joly and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warning about backlash from Beijing, the AP reported.
But, allegations of interference from China aren’t new.
After the election of Vancouver mayor Ken Sim this year, The Globe and Mail’s reports said China’s former consul general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, sought to “groom” local Chinese Canadian politicians to do Beijing’s bidding. Sim, the first Chinese Canadian elected to the post, denied the allegations and said they were simply based on his ethnicity.
In March 2023, Trudeau had an independent investigator appointed to report on whether China attempted to interfere in Canada’s federal elections in 2021 and 2019. Former Governor General David Johnston was to study the issue and assess whether a public inquiry was needed.
Another MP, Han Dong, who was a member of Trudeau’s Liberal Party, stepped down from the party over claims that he was chosen over other candidates by the party as a result of the Chinese government’s support in federal elections. While the PM then raised general concerns about election interference from Beijing, he denied the possibility of China actually succeeding in impacting election results.
“That doesn’t mean that we are not faced on an ongoing basis by attempts at interference in our democracies, both during and before and after an election,” Trudeau said.
And what led to this state of Canada-China ties?
There have been some major incidents since 2018, thanks in part to then-US President Donald Trump’s hardening stance on China and trade with the country, as well as Canada and the US’s close ties historically. Trudeau’s handling of these issues has been criticised domestically as being too soft.
The current state of unease began when in December 2018, Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, an executive of the Chinese tech company Huawei, and the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhenfei. This was at the request of US authorities, who accused the company of misleading it on its transactions with Iran – which was under US trade sanctions.
The company was also facing charges of bank fraud and theft of technology, the BBC reported, and concerns were growing about the ability of Chinese companies to spy on users for the Chinese government. But the arrest predictably caused a strong reaction from China, even as Canada said it was simply following obligations under its extradition treaty with the US.
Within two weeks, China arrested two Canadians, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, on allegations of spying. Canada termed this “absolutely unacceptable”.
On the trade front too, China restricted imports of Canadian goods such as canola around 2019. In the year before that, around 40 percent of canola produced by Canadian farmers was exported to the country, according to a report from Canadian media organisation Global News. China cited problems of certification and pesticide limits for its actions. Some of the bans were later removed in 2021.
In September 2021, Meng was allowed to leave Canada following a deal between the two countries and the US, and soon after, Spavor and Kovrig were also released in China. While Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trudeau have met since then, the latest round of expulsions has worsened ties.
