A series of national security leaks in the press led to the current public inquiry on foreign interference, but the leak of one CSIS report indicating Beijing was targeting MPs—a report ignored by the government—had a major role in forcing Ottawa to hold an inquiry.
That Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) assessment has now been partially disclosed by the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference.
Canada knows China tried to influence the last two federal elections, according to a top secret briefing report obtained by Global News that said the government “must do more” to fight foreign interference.
“We know that the PRC sought to clandestinely and deceptively influence the 2019 and 2021 federal elections,” according to the briefing released by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
An organization representing Uyghur Canadians is withdrawing from the public inquiry into foreign interference, a development that threatens to undermine Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s ability to hear testimony from all vulnerable diaspora communities facing persecution from China.
The Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project wrote to Justice Hogue Wednesday to serve notice it is formally withdrawing because she granted party standing to former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham, Ont., and independent MP Han Dong. This type of standing means they can cross-examine witnesses and gain access to all evidence collected, including that presented to the inquiry outside of hearings.
“China has signaled interest in joining discussions on setting rules and norms for AI, and we should welcome that,” said Bonnie Glaser of the German Marshall Fund to the Breaking Defense site. “The White House is interested in engaging China on limiting the role of AI in command and control of nuclear weapons.”
“Nobody wants to see AI controlled nuclear weapons, right?” asked Joe Wang, a former State Department and NSC staffer now at the Arlington, Virginia-based Special Competitive Studies Project, which specializes in AI and emerging technologies. “Like, even the craziest dictator can probably agree.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 ignored multiple warnings and committed Canada to membership in Xi Jinping’s pet project—an infrastructure bank that finances Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and furthers China’s bid to become an imperial power.
The bank, known as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), pretends to be benign—just another multilateral development bank, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank—but its corporate structure belies such “business-as-usual” claims.
Canadian authorities have issued a deportation order against a Chinese woman on the grounds she was part of Beijing’s foreign interference program.
The Immigration and Refugee Board ruled that Jing Zhang had worked for the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO), which it said conducts espionage in Canada.
While immigration officials did not argue that Zhang committed espionage, the Refugee Board found that as an 11-year OCAO employee, she had contributed to its efforts to pressure the Chinese diaspora.
The allegations kept mounting in Canada: Election-meddling by China, an Indian-backed assassination on home soil, and a campaign to harass Iranian dissidents. Is Canada especially vulnerable to foreign interference?
Michael Chong said it did not take long for him to become a target of Beijing.
In testimony before US lawmakers on Capitol Hill last year, the Canadian Conservative politician described how an alleged intimidation campaign against him was born after he spoke out against China’s human rights record in parliament.
Before Canada’s recent designation of 85 Chinese academic institutions as potential threats to national security, several Canadian universities had engaged in extensive interactions with some of those institutions.
The list of Named Research Organizations released Jan. 16 is part of Ottawa’s Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern, introduced to bolster Canadian universities’ research security.
Canada unveiled a list of foreign universities and research institutions linked to military, national defence, and state security entities. Predominantly composed of entities based in China, these organizations are identified as presenting the highest risk to Canadian national security.
OTTAWA — Canada will ban federal funding for research in “sensitive areas” done in affiliation with more than 100 entities the government deems pose a risk to national security, including foreign universities and institutions.
Canadian researchers will no longer be eligible to receive federal funding for technological research that is done in affiliation with, or with funding from, any of the newly listed entities.
I feel Justin will allow the China class to strip mine Canadian research.
The results are in. Taiwan’s voters stood up to China and all its war talk of recent weeks.
Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency on Saturday in a three-way race with 40.1% of the vote. Hsiao Bi-khim, recently Taipei’s representative in Washington, was elected vice president.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih, of the opposition Kuomintang received 33.5%, and Ko Wen-je of the new Taiwan People’s Party came in third with 26.5%.
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi say they want to find common ground and maintain communication, despite tensions across the Pacific.
But a senior analyst says Beijing’s preferred path to better relations might be impossible for Canadians to follow.
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be one of the most dangerous and consequential events of the 21st century, an event that would make the Russian attack on Ukraine look like a sideshow by comparison. It could quickly have ramifications far beyond the island, drawing in Japan, South Korea, and the United States and other countries of Nato.
Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, believes the recent electric vehicle targets set out by Canada’s environment minister also carried this pointed message to Canada’s domestic auto industry: “Let them eat cake.”
Volpe says he has come to this conclusion because he believes those goals, which include a national target of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, cannot be met.
A U.S. Navy service member was sentenced today to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to an intelligence officer from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in exchange for bribery payments.
