Canada probes alleged Chinese interference in 2019 election

MARKHAM, Ontario — The newcomer landed in a district of northern Toronto and announced his bid for Canada’s Parliament. Although few knew him, an important factor helped offset his lack of name recognition: the backing of prominent local Chinese Canadians.

“I’m very happy that I feel very well supported, surrounded by friends,” the candidate, Han Dong, said at a news conference.

But a government-appointed special rapporteur said there was “well-grounded suspicion” that Dong also had help from a hidden source as he vied for the Liberal Party’s nomination: the Chinese Consulate.

Dong’s victory — eventually propelling him to Parliament in 2019 — is one of several Canadian campaigns that has raised fears about Chinese election interference.

His case is almost certain to be a focus of a long-delayed public inquiry launched in September, just as worries over foreign meddling broadened to include India, whose agents Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused of killing a Canadian Sikh leader.

The hearings are scheduled to start in January, focusing on the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Canadian intelligence officials have long warned that China is exploiting Canada’s election system by swaying votes in populous suburbs of Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia, which can tip general elections.

In a half-dozen cities with large Chinese diasporas, Beijing has increasingly deployed diplomats and proxies to undermine elected officials critical of it, especially on human rights, according to Canadian elected and intelligence officials.

On the flip side, officials say, China and its allies have supported candidates considered friendly. Lawmakers are separately examining whether China interfered in the 2019 election to support 11 candidates in the Toronto area. Most belonged to Trudeau’s Liberal Party, according to Canadian news outlets, but only one — Dong — has been named.

The lawmakers began investigating after an extraordinary series of intelligence reports leaked to Canadian outlets, which reported that the Chinese Consulate funneled money to the 11 campaigns through intermediaries and that some campaign staffers had consulate ties.

Under President Xi Jinping’s aggressive foreign policy, China has tapped into diasporas worldwide to extend its reach and interfered in elections in Asia, Canada, the United States and Australia, officials say.

But while nations like Australia have tried to curb Chinese interference, Canada has gone easy on Beijing, critics say. Trudeau — whose party is strong in districts with ethnic Chinese voters and who has been criticized over fundraising events in wealthy Chinese Canadians’ homes — long opposed calls for the public inquiry.

“Civil society organizations like ours have repeatedly been warning our government about the dangers of the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration, manipulation and intimidation on Canadian soil,” said Gloria Fung, the president of Canada-hong Kong Link, a private organization focusing on Chinese interference. “Unfortunately, the Canadian government has not taken concrete, effective steps to combat foreign interference.”

China’s embassy, which has consistently denied any interference, did not respond to requests for comment.

Trudeau’s office and the ministry that oversees foreign interference declined interview requests. Dong also declined requests but has publicly denied receiving the Chinese Consulate’s help.

While Dong campaigned in Don Valley North, a safe Liberal district, he found his most influential backers in Markham, Ontario, just north of Toronto.

Ethnic Chinese account for nearly half of Markham’s 340,000 residents. Chinese businesses dominate its strip malls and avenues. New arrivals from China have surged in recent decades, gaining prominence thanks to their wealth.

The newcomers — who often have relatives in China and depend on consular ties for their businesses — give the Chinese government leverage in local affairs, according to elected officials and activists opposed to China’s crackdown in Hong Kong and its increasing influence in Canada.

Having pro-beijing positions or even being supported by Beijing is not evidence of knowingly accepting support from China. There was no evidence that the 11 candidates in 2019 knew that the consulate or its proxies were helping them, according to The Globe and Mail. The government rapporteur said he had found no evidence Dong was aware of the consulate’s “potential involvement in his nomination.”

But under Xi, China has built support for its positions in diaspora communities and interfered in elections, according to intelligence and elected officials and experts.

Markham’s dominant ethnic Chinese business and community groups have aligned with Beijing, including on Hong Kong. Chinese-language news organizations now avoid sensitive issues, journalists say.

“They dismiss Chinese interference as anti-asian, anti-chinese racism,” said Joe Tay, a journalist who has worked for several Chinese-language outlets.

Some Markham City Council members have consistently taken positions favorable to Beijing’s interests, current and former officials say. The council has rejected a proposal to create a lobbyist registry, which would have required councilorstodisclosewhomthey meet, as well as a motion that would have prohibited China’s flag from being flown on city property.

Current and former members say the council tipped even more toward China with last year’s election of Deputy Mayor Michael Chan, a veteran of Canadian politics known for his fundraising prowess in the Chinese Canadian community.

In 2015, The Globe and Mail revealed that Canada’s top intelligence official had warned the Ontario government that Chan was too close to Toronto’s Chinese Consulate and under undue influence. Ontario’s premier at the time expressed full confidence in him.

His entrance into local politics surprised many.

“As deputy mayor, Michael Chan is generally doing a good job,” said Reid Mcalpine, a councilor who pressed for the lobbyist registry, partly to fight foreign meddling.

“But there is an elephant in the room,” he said.

He believed China’s strategy was not to interfere in daily affairs, he said, but “to get the right people in the right place in the long run, just to create a more general influence and that you’ve got allies in place when issues arise.”