Han Dong has made his position very clear: the former Liberal MP says he never told a Chinese diplomat to put off releasing two imprisoned Canadians to avoid helping the Conservatives. And he announced Monday he’s already hired a lawyer to sue the news outlet that reported the alleged conversation.
Chinese Canadians in public office and academia are warning the recent claims China interfered in Canadian politics could stigmatize an entire community and dissuade them from running for public office or taking on public-facing roles.
“There is a lot of fear,” said Keren Tang, a city councillor in Edmonton.
Tang and others in the Chinese community are worried racism resulting from the federal investigations into the alleged Chinese government interference could roll back years of progress of getting more diverse voices in all levels of government.
Just the CBC running interference for Trudeau and his ChiCom allies.
Most Canadians have no idea where the country’s spy agency is located, nor do they know much about its daily operations. This is not because the Canadian Security Intelligence Service operates in a particularly clandestine fashion, it’s because most Canadians don’t care.
The CSIS, a civilian-run organisation based in a triangular structure of concrete and glass on the outskirts of Ottawa, lacks the intrigue of Britain’s MI5 and the notoriety of America’s Central Intelligence Agency.
“I look nothing like Daniel Craig, and I did not arrive here in an Aston Martin. I’m just as disappointed as you are – on both fronts,” its director, David Vigneault, said in a speech in 2018, poking fun at the service’s largely uncharismatic reputation. “Most of you remember the movie Fight Club. And you will know that the first rule of Fight Club is ‘don’t talk about Fight Club’. Well, the first rule of CSIS has always been ‘don’t talk’. Period.”
During the SNC Lavalin Scandal Katie Telford is said to have told Jody Wilson-Raybould’s chief of staff that she could arrange for her connections to ‘Write op-eds saying that what she is doing is proper.’ This piece fits the bill for narrative control.
I don’t know of anyone who thinks ill of CSIS for these leaks, other than the CCP compromised Liberal Party. In fact most of us are grateful for having this criminal chicanery exposed.
The federal government is establishing an office to counter foreign interference and giving nearly $50-million to the RCMP to combat harassment of Canadians by powers such as China and Russia.
The government said in the 2023 budget that it will spend more than $16-million to create a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office in the Department of Public Safety, citing the threat of espionage.
Both pose serious threats to our nation, as Congress’ recent hearing reveals.
What does TikTok have in common with 9/11?
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked airplanes and committed suicide attacks on the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. These terrorists took advantage of the freedoms in the U.S. to be trained as pilots and organize the attacks. In responding to this new type of terrorist attack, the U.S. instituted several new measures.
A series of explosive allegations about Chinese interference in Canadian politics have rocked Ottawa
As hard as it is to conceive of him as such, as the longest-serving head of government in the G7 Justin Trudeau is now one of the world’s elder statesmen. He has achieved this exalted status despite innumerable scandals rocking his government, on issues ranging from corruption to “blackface” to bullying to sexual misconduct, many of which would have felled a lesser politician.
But his lucky streak may finally be ending. For the past month, Ottawa has been riveted by a series of explosive allegations about Chinese interference in Canadian politics, from illegal campaign donations to disinformation campaigns, allegations leaked to the media by members of Canada’s usually docile intelligence service reportedly angry with the government ignoring their reports.
Honduras recently cut ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with China.
Honduras’ Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina made it clear that the decision was about “pragmatism, not ideology” and that it was motivated by the country’s debt, which totals $20 billion, as well as the need to deal with the country’s energy and other needs. Honduras’ decision came just weeks after the Honduran government announced that it was negotiating with China to build a hydroelectric dam called Patuca II. China has already invested $298 million in a first dam in eastern Honduras inaugurated in January 2021.
Why do some Canadians bristle at the suggestion that recent reporting on foreign interference in our democracy encourages racism?
Setting aside partisan point-scoring, let’s assume that the reason is an inability to see how genuine concern about foreign interference could be construed as racist.
The CBC’s coverage of the China interference scandal has often been questionable and partisan. Though its unsurprising that the organization has chosen to act, yet again, as the Liberals’ state-funded PR wing, its recent decision to platform an apologist for Beijing’s genocide against the Uyghurs is a new low.
For more than 25 years of writing columns and making media appearances, I’ve often discussed the importance of controlling the political narrative. It’s a key component for successful governments, and an art form unto itself.
The narrative is the messaging, or series of events, pertaining to a particular issue, policy, event, or controversy. There are times when it’s been shaped by parties and leaders. There are moments where it naturally develops on its own. No matter how it evolves, it’s always incumbent on the government to ensure the narrative points in their general direction for as long and as often as possible.
China’s furtive efforts to affect policy and raise its stature worldwide achieved some of its greatest successes in Utah — a deeply religious and conservative state seemingly a world away from the machinations of Beijing’s Communist government, the Associated Press reported Monday.
For years, China and its affiliates in the US have worked behind-the-scenes to cultivate relationships with state and local officials and lawmakers, connections that have allowed Beijing to delay legislation it didn’t like and ditch resolutions that expressed dissatisfaction with its actions.
MPs on a House of Commons committee are set to vote this week on a motion calling for former governor general David Johnston—the recently appointed special rapporteur tasked with investigating foreign interference in Canada’s last two elections—to appear at committee for questioning about his work.
NDP MP Rachel Blaney recently served notice that she will ask the Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to vote on the motion this week, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
The Chinese government may be using its shipping technology as a spy tool.
For more than 15 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has developed an elaborate espionage campaign to gather insight on American businesses, strategic assets, and supply-chain weak links. The goal: to gain a competitive foothold it can leverage against the United States and our allies.
This week, Chinese president Xi Jinping met with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Sino-Russo relations. During their meeting, Xi stated that Russia’s development had “significantly improved” while Putin claimed that China “made a colossal leap forward.”
The visit came just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin for committing war crimes in Ukraine. China is not a state party of the Rome Statute, a treaty recognizing the ICC. Thus, Xi’s visit suggests that China feels no need to hold the Russians accountable for their ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Many members of the international community are also skeptical of China’s neutrality in the war, given Xi’s close relationship with Putin.
The pressure has been building for months. What did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau know about intelligence reports on foreign interference in Canada’s elections, and when did he know it? Why is CSIS leaking like a sieve? Why won’t the PM call a public inquiry? And so on, and so on.
Then, 24 hours before Trudeau was to welcome United States President Joe Biden on his first state visit to Ottawa, another bombshell. Global News reported that Liberal MP Han Dong allegedly advised the Chinese consulate to recommend delaying China’s release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from prison in 2021, so as not to “benefit the Conservatives.”
It’s a good piece and one that takes a similar tack as my own speculative entry which asked why Jacinda Arden & Nicola Sturgeon suddenly “resigned.” Like Trudeau they are regarded as China’s useful idiots. “
New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon And Canada’s Justin Trudeau – What Do They Have In Common?
Justin’s relegation to the Useful Idiot fringe may help explain the CBC’s ham-fisted propaganda piece published yesterday which sought to reassure someone that Justin was a trusted ally of the US and Five Eyes.
