Foreign interference inquiry: Han Dong sought support from international students

Former Liberal Han Dong met with international students from China and encouraged them to register as Liberal members during his nomination race in 2019 — but the MP didn’t mention that to an ongoing federal inquiry into foreign meddling until he took the stand Tuesday.

The revelation came to light as Dong testified at a public hearing and responded to unsubstantiated allegations that China tampered with Dong’s nomination battle by coercing international students.

Dong left the Liberal caucus following media reports of allegations that he willingly participated in Chinese meddling and won his seat in 2019 with Beijing’s help.

He denied the claims and countered with legal action against Global News and its parent company, Corus Entertainment.

The reports alleged that Chinese international students with fake addresses had been bused into the riding and coerced to vote for Dong’s nomination to avoid losing their student visas.

The allegations also appear in a declassified summary of unconfirmed government intelligence released as part of the inquiry.

“Intelligence reported after the election indicated that veiled threats were issued by the (People’s Republic of China) Consulate to the Chinese international students,” the summary reads.

That intelligence implied that “their student visas would be in jeopardy and that there could be consequences for their families back in the PRC if they did not support Han Dong.”

Special rapporteur David Johnston found last May that there were “irregularities” observed with Dong’s nomination and

“well-grounded suspicion” they were tied to China’s Toronto consulate, but that Dong was not aware of such issues.

It turned out Dong did meet with international students from a private school called NOIC Academy during his nomination battle at their residence at Seneca College, he confirmed Tuesday.

He said he encouraged the students, who mostly spoke Mandarin, to volunteer for his campaign and vote in his nomination.

He had not mentioned the meeting to inquiry lawyers when interviewed in Feb.

Dong also neglected to mention that a busload of international students showed up to vote for his nomination — though he said he didn’t see it himself. He said he was told about the bus and presumed it had been organized by the school itself.

“I didn’t pay attention to busing international students because ... I didn’t understand it as an irregularity,” he said.

Dong’s campaign manager, Ted Lojko, testified that he didn’t know anything about the busload of students.

The commission lawyer grilled Dong about why he failed to come forward with the information until Monday, but the nowindependent MP said his wife reminded him about it only after his interview with the commission.

He decided to let the commission know about the additional information after a recent discussion with his lawyer, he said.

“It was a short period of time for the campaign and I was reaching out to as many groups as I can,” Dong testified.

It’s not illegal for international students to vote in Liberal nominations, as long as they can prove they live in the riding. Dong denied any knowledge of the students using falsified documents to vote.

“I would be the first one condemning it. I think it’s an insult to our democratic system,” he said.

The hearings are part of the inquiry’s work examining possible foreign interference by China, India, Russia and others in the last two general elections.

Earlier in the day, the The Liberal party’s national director testified that the party doesn’t consider nomination races to be particularly vulnerable to foreign interference, despite the irregularities surrounding Dong’s nomination.

Azam Ishmael denied any irregularities during the nomination process, even though Johnston’s findings were to the contrary.

“The only thing that catches me as a bit peculiar is that it was organized by the school, given that it was a partisan political event,” Ishmael told the commission, commenting on the international students’ participation in the race.

Ishmael defended the Liberal nomination rules and processes as being generally effective at weeding out meddling efforts, and said an anonymous ballot stymies foreign attempts at coercion.

Dong was also questioned about a 2021 conversation he had with a Chinese consular official about the detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in the context of China-Canada relations.

A summary of declassified and unsubstantiated intelligence suggests Dong told the Chinese official that if China was to release the “two Michaels,” opposition parties would view it as proof that a hardline Canadian approach to China worked.

Dong said he doesn’t remember the conversation, and asserted the particular allegation doesn’t make sense.

“Whenever I talked about the two Michaels, I’d try to show that early release of the two Michaels is good for the relationship between countries,” Dong testified.