China denies meddling at Ontario campuses
U of T, McMaster activists say they were bullied by Chinese students online
Chinese officials in Canada have denied involvement in recent incidents at two Ontario university campuses where activists critical of the Communist regime were allegedly bullied by mainland Chinese students.
Over the past two weeks, online trolls attacked a newly elected student union president of Tibetan descent in Toronto and a Uyghur activist invited to speak on a Hamilton campus. The latter was also filmed and interrupted during her speech.
“What happened recently at the University of Toronto and McMaster University has nothing to do with the Chinese Em- bassy and Chinese Consulate General in Canada. We strongly support the just and patriotic actions of Chinese students,” the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said in a statement issued over the weekend.
The statement followed accusations of political influence and interference by Chinese officials in oppressing dissident views on the issues of Tibet and Xinjiang in Canadian public discourse through protests and attacks by mainland Chinese students studying in Canada. Chemi Lhamo, a Tibetan youth leader and Canadian citizen, said she became the target of hateful comments on her Instagram account — many incorrectly accusing her of being a Tibetan separatist — even before she was elected president of the U of T Scarborough campus student’s union on Feb. 9. More than 11,000 also signed an online petition demanding her to step down.
“With my experience working with different organizations and with the Tibetan community, I’m well aware of how the Chinese government operates,” said the 22-year-old neuroscience and psychology major, who added she is a humanrights advocate for all and believes it is up to Tibetans in China to decide if they want independence or not.
“When I read more into those comments, there’s a pattern,” added Lhamo, who was born in India as a refugee and moved to Canada with her family in 2007.
“They always make Tibet part of it. It’s certainly not a spontaneous effort.”
Rukiye Turdush, a former president of the Uyghur Canadian Society, was invited to give a presentation on the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims at McMaster on Feb. 11.
Turdush said her presentation was interrupted by several Chinese students in the audience, one of them filming her, with another student yelling at her before storming out of the room.
Some students also wrote on WeChat, a messaging and social-media app popular among Chinese, that they reported to Chinese officials on Turdush’s talk, according to a statement undersigned by several McMaster campus groups, includ- ing the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.
“They should not be allowed to preach their ideology and intimidate us in Canada. If they don’t respect Canada’s political culture, they can go home,” said Turdush, 48, who moved to Canada with her family from Xinjian two decades ago.
She is now a Canadian citizen and works as a domestic-violence counsellor.
In its statement, the Chinese embassy said it strongly supports the action of the Chinese students for the sake of “safeguarding sovereignty and opposing separatism.”
“Canada is a multicultural country advocating freedom of speech. Since the ‘Tibet-independence’ and Xinjiang separatists forces are allowed to have freedom of speech, people who oppose them should also be entitled to enjoy freedom of speech,” the embassy said.