Toronto (Canada), March 17 (EFE).- The trickle of accusations of Chinese interference in Canadian politics has not only generated a heated debate in the country and threatens to damage its already difficult relationship with the Asian giant for decades, it could also be just “the tip of the iceberg” of what is really going on.

This is what the experts consulted by EFE point out about the large number of Chinese operations in the North American country that appear in the documents of the Canadian intelligence service (CSIS) that have been leaked to the media in recent weeks and that arouse surprise and alarm.

Desde financial candidates for federal, provincial and municipal elections, desde el consulado general chino de Toronto, a cultivar adepts entre políticos, empresarios y académicos pasando por pressurees a miembros de la comunidad china en Canada y la installation de comisarías clandestinas en los principals urbanos del Country.

“Election interference is just the tip of the iceberg,” Cheuk Kwan, co-chairman of the China Democracy Association in Toronto, a leading campaigner who has spent decades telling EFE to expose Beijing’s activities in Canada.

According to The Globe and Mail newspaper, in the fall of 2022, CSIS warned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Chinese interference in the 2019 election, in which the Toronto consulate promoted 11 friendly candidates (nine from Trudeau’s Liberal Party and two from the Conservative Opposition). To party).

Other CSIS documents released by the media indicate that the consulate distributed large sums of money to friendly candidates and that in the 2021 election, China executed a sophisticated operation to support the re-election of Trudeau. , but with the aim of preventing the Liberal Party from obtaining an absolute majority.

The election was won by Trudeau although the Liberals got only 160 MPs, 10 less than the number needed to control Parliament.

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Jeremy Paltiel, professor emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa and an expert on Canada-China relations, told EFE that it is nothing new that there is “some interaction” between Beijing and China. Chinese community in the country.

“What surprised me was the direct role that the Chinese consulate in Toronto is accused of,” said Paltiel, who added that interference in the election is clearly “a red line” that Beijing has crossed.

For Paltiel, what the Chinese government wants is for “the story of China” to be told as one approved by Beijing.

“Especially since Xi Jinping came to the presidency, they want to have a monolithic representation of what China means,” explained the academic, for whom the interference of this country is not comparable to others like that denounced by Russia for influence on the United States. elections where Donald Trump won.

“We are talking about 11 deputies out of a total of 338. It’s not like Russia. What we have is a new, unapologetic China,” he added.

The situation in Canada has become more complicated in recent years since the rivalry with China has become the mainstay of American foreign policy.

For years, Ottawa resisted pressure from Washington to ban the use of Huawei equipment in 5G telecommunications technology.

In December 2018, the United States asked Canada to arrest Huawei’s chief financial officer, and daughter of its founder, Meng Wanzhou, when her plane stopped in Vancouver. When Meng was detained, China responded by arresting two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Meng, Kovrig and Spavor were finally released in September 2021. But by then Canada-China relations were seriously damaged.

Sources consulted by Efe indicated that the Canadian intelligence services, concerned about relations with their main ally, the United States, have been pressuring the Canadian government for years to get Ottawa closer to Washington.

The leak of CSIS reports left Ottawa little room for manoeuvre.

Paltiel expressed surprise that no one in Canada questioned why or when the CSIS documents leaked.

Since the leaks began, Canada has published its strategic plan for the Indo-Pacific region in which it hardens its position vis-à-vis China and considers it a “disruptive power”; banned Huawei’s 5G equipment as well as the TikTok app on official mobile phones.

Trudeau also ended joint investigations with Chinese scientists linked to Beijing’s military; appointed a special rapporteur to investigate allegations of Chinese interference; and announced the creation of a registry of lobbyists acting in Canada on behalf of foreign governments.

But at the same time, he opposed the creation of a commission of inquiry into Chinese interference as demanded by the opposition parties.

Kwan supports the creation of the commission and says the only solution for Canada is to stand firm against China. “If not, China will not respect Canada,” he said.

Julius Caesar Rivas

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