The Convergence of Sinophobia and Sinofascism in Canada
‘The Chinese’ are a collective of pro-Beijing agents, according to CSIS, the Canadian media, and Xi Jinping
NG WENG HOONG in Vancouver
May 3, 2024, Friday, 1.00 am
Canada is being convulsed by another investigation into foreign interference (1) after the last one failed to deliver the “right” conclusion.
Marie-Josée Hogue (2), the head of the commission on the “Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions”, is expected to submit her first report (3) on May 3. After months of hearing, reading, and questioning the accounts of various parties, the Quebec judge is under pressure to make an outright finding that China had interfered in Canada’s last two Federal elections that delivered a supposedly Beijing-sanctioned Liberal Party minority government. What follows Justice Hogue’s findings will set the stage for the next phase of the battle over China inside the Canadian establishment. It will also have a direct impact on the 1.8 million Canadians loosely classified as being of Chinese descent.
The Hogue Commission was established last September after Parliament trashed the earlier investigation by David Johnston (4), a former governor-general of Canada who once served as a law professor and university chancellor. Johnston lasted less than four months in the role of “independent special rapporteur” that was created by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March 2023 specifically to dig into China’s alleged interferences.
Hogue was put on the ropes early on after her commission was accused (5) of “muting opposition parties and discouraging activists from coming forward.” Two groups (6) invited to present their cases to prove China’s intimidation campaign withdrew in protest, citing concerns with security and the commission’s alleged lack of objectivity. Although the group representing Canada’s Uyghurs returned to testify against China’s cross-border oppression, critics have already planted seeds of doubts about the inquiry’s effectiveness and purpose. Their disappointment is owed in part to the high expectations that China’s interference in Canadian politics is a slam-dunk story that the Commission merely needs to rubber-stamp.
A Sign of Our Times
The Hogue and Johnston investigations are the products of a long-running campaign by a loose coalition of politicians, military-security types, media personalities, think tank analysts, and secret informants leaking selected intelligence files to talk up the extent and depth of China’s political interference in Canada. According to them, Canada’s political process has been completely compromised by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) working through members of the Canadian elite and the “Chinese community”. (Contrast this with the lack of concern about the continuing overt U.S. and European interference (7) in Canadian elections and politics going back several decades).
The Johnston investigation went down in flames after he recommended against holding a public inquiry into alleged foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
The three leading opposition parties, the Conservative Party, the NDP, and the Bloc Québecois denounced (8) his report. The Canadian media (9), which considers itself untouchable, went after the man himself for daring to fault their role in spinning the foreign interference narrative.
The public piled in, and Parliament voted (10) for his sacking. Left with little choice, Johnston resigned in humiliation as the attacks on his competence and impartiality turned into a feeding frenzy. His findings (11), important and insightful with more to follow (12) had he continued, were no match against the orchestrated rage directed at his alleged bias favouring China (13) and the Trudeau family (14).
How much of that rage was justified?
The Rise Of Sinofascism
China has clearly shaken Canada and the West since Xi Jinping became supreme leader of the CCP in November 2012.
He is the most powerful leader in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) 75-year history, surpassing even founder Mao Zedong. Xi has at his disposal the party’s control over China’s financial resources, military capability, advanced technology, and global diplomatic reach on a scale that Mao could only dream of.
Xi’s avowed goal is to turn China into the world’s leading superpower and most advanced communist state by 2049 (15), the centenary year of the PRC’s founding.
Yet, the vision and methods that he has laid out so far point increasingly to a totalitarian fascist end-game (16). Xi’s China operates on Marxist, Maoist, and Leninist principles for its political economy, and ethnic Han supremacy as the country’s social foundation with little room for cultural, intellectual, political, and religious diversity. Armed with the best surveillance technology, the party seeks absolute control of all aspects of life in Xi’s pursuit of the “great modern socialist country (17) that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.”
Xi’s early pledge to create a “community of common destiny” (18) for all of humanity has turned out to be mostly propaganda to advance his real agenda for global influence. The CCP has ramped up efforts to sell China as a benevolent global power and the West, led by the U.S., as corrupt and in terminal decline.
Instead of oozing benevolence, the ruling CCP has intensified efforts to silence critics (19), dissidents (20), scholars (21), regular people (22), and China’s minority groups in Xinjiang (23), Tibet (24), and Inner Mongolia (25). It has passed laws to strengthen the party’s grip (26) over the government and widen the scope of control over what constitutes state secrets (27).
Children (28), young people (29), and ambitious party members (30) must now undergo indoctrination in “Xi Jinping Thought”, a bizarre concoction of Confucianist, Marxist, Leninist, and Maoist ideas named after the supreme leader to mould China into an obedient communist utopia. To ensure compliance, Chinese state police have deployed the most advanced system of high-tech surveillance (30) to monitor and control the country’s 1.4 billion people, with Xinjiang as a prototype (31).
The party has taken a hardline stance to “unify” Hong Kong and Taiwan under Beijing’s rule while, at the same time, intensifying border disputes (32) and territorial claims (33) against neighbouring countries in Asia. Relations with India and the Philippines have plunged from warm to hostile over otherwise manageable territorial disputes over the last few years. Relations with immediate neighbour Vietnam (34) remain tense long after the two countries fought a brief bloody border war in the late 1970s. Even China-friendly Singapore (35) has been alarmed by the CCP’s brazen attempts to court its largely ethnic Chinese population. These disputes, against the backdrop of a global power struggle with the U.S., fuel the rabid domestic nationalism that the CCP encourages from its supporters.
To paper over the widening gap between the rhetoric and reality of its policies, the CCP has undertaken a massive global misinformation and disinformation campaign. This consists of promoting positive media and social media spin about China, and ignoring, downplaying, and suppressing negative portrayals of the party.
A particularly troubling aspect of the campaign concerns the “overseas Chinese” (36), described by Xi Jinping as a “powerful joint force for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Effectively, he has launched a race-based Sinofascist (37) nation-building project that disregards the realities of national borders, cultural, intellectual, and religious diversity, and individual choice. Xi’s appeal to racial unity to rejuvenate (38) China has a troubling parallel with Hitler’s quest for the mythical Aryan nation.
The CCP’s propaganda and espionage arm, the United Front Works Department (UFWD), officially treats the estimated 60 to 80 million ethnic Chinese people living outside China as party assets. They are considered obligated and predisposed to help the motherland, regardless of what they think or want. Apart from expecting the diverse Chinese communities to “tell the China story” (39), the UFWD has recruited some to undertake espionage work and to intimidate dissidents and critics among those identified as members of the diaspora.
Beijing’s view of the diaspora is captured in this colourful description (40) by China’s state Xinhua news agency:
“Overseas Chinese, with the motherland and hometown in their hearts, have given unstinting support to China’s revolution, reconstruction and reform, and made a huge contribution to the development of the nation, the reunification of the motherland, and the cooperation between the peoples of China and other countries. China’s growing prosperity and national rejuvenation have given a great boost to their pride in the nation and sense of identity.”
Xi’s diaspora policy has created challenges for countries, such as Canada, that have a small but significant ethnic Chinese population.
Canadians were alarmed when groups of mostly immigrants from China supported Beijing during street protests in Vancouver over the Meng Wanzhou affair (41) and Hong Kong (42) in 2019. Some want to silence Uyghur (43) and Tibetan (44) voices in Canada and elsewhere. In clear violation of international law, Chinese police (45) have been found to operate in Canada to monitor and act against Chinese nationals and others opposed to the regime. Chinese students abroad (46) are using their financial muscles to pressure international academic institutions to drop or amend education projects that offend the CCP.
Recently, a pair of scientists at Canada’s high-security infectious disease laboratory in Winnipeg was fired after they were accused of secretly working for the Chinese military, and having deep ties with the Chinese government even though they declared themselves as Canadians.
Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were described as posing credible threats to Canada’s economic security. Both originally from China, they met secretly with Chinese government officials, apparently to share details of their research work at the National Microbiology Laboratory.
When confronted with her ties to China, “Ms. Qiu continued to make blanket denials, feign ignorance or tell outright lies,” according to a June 2020 CSIS assessment cited by the CBC (47). These apparent acts of espionage would be more serious and important than the allegations of electoral interference by the CCP.
Sinophobia Meets Sinofascism
In Canada, the myth of a monolithic Chinese community of pro-Beijing loyalists has become a focal point of propaganda for both the Sinophobic and Sinofascist camps.
The Canadian strain of Sinophobia feeds off Sinofascism. Both actively promote the storyline that sections of the Canadian elite and society have been “captured” by the CCP with the help of “the Chinese community”. The CCP likes to boast that it has the power to un-seat elected officials in Canada who are hostile to Beijing’s interest. This must be recognized and exposed as fantasy given Canadians’ considerable and increasing distrust of China.
PEW Research Center, (48) which operates the longest-running and most authoritative survey on Western sentiments toward China, found that Canadians’ negative rating of China rose to a record 79% last year, up from 27% in 2005. This trend is also reflected in the Angus Reid Institute (49) and Nanos Research (50) surveys which found that most Canadians see China as their country’s biggest enemy and threat to democracy.
The same negativity extends across the Western bloc, which crushes Xi Jinping’s soft power campaign to win over public opinion in North America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Ironically, but not surprisingly, the biggest promoter of the CCP’s propaganda about its supposed influence in Canada is the Sinophobic crowd desperate to sell the narrative about a pervasive Chinese Threat. Both camps fail to see the contradiction in their ideological centrepiece. If China is so distrusted and disliked, how does it purport to sway public opinion in Canada? Who believes the CCP could have influenced Canadians to vote in a pro-Beijing government given the toxic level of negativity toward China?
The top prize for this piece of delusion goes to Erin O’Toole, the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) who lost the 2021 Federal election because he failed to unite the party whose policies also turned off the majority of voters. No wonder he chose to blame it all on China. He even convinced himself that the Conservatives “almost won the election” (51) but for Beijing’s interference. O’Toole, backed by the party’s best-known ethnic Chinese members, Michael Chong and Kenny Chiu, are at the heart of the conspiracy that the “Chinese vote” fell under the CCP’s influence to play a key role in the elections of 2019 and 2021.
Like the CCP, the O’Toole group believes that Canada’s 1.8 million Chinese folks who form just 4.5% of the country’s population are a powerful, articulate, and well-organized group (spoiler alert: they are not) who always vote as a single block (more spoiler: “the Chinese” fight each other alot). O’Toole subscribes to the racist notion that “the Chinese” are a monolithic community of mindless supporters of Xi Jinping. They are all assumed to speak Mandarin, have WeChat accounts, read only Chinese language media, and are sleeper agents for the CCP. Chinese Canadians are deemed to be devoid of common sense as they will believe anything published by Xinhua News.
For shamelessly repeating tall tales about the CCP’s alleged role in his electoral defeat in 2021, Kenny Chiu now has a nose that is much longer than Pinocchio’s. The one-term MP for Steveston-Richmond East lost his seat in 2021 because voters rejected the Conservatives’ position on the environment, COVID-19 vaccination, and LGBT rights. They also punished him for spending too much time on foreign policy issues and Hong Kong than looking after the basic needs of his constituents, who were freaking out over housing affordability, the economic downturn, and an outbreak of anti-Asian racism during the COVID lockdown. Chiu, and his media backers, also ignore the fact that over half his constituents are from other ethnic groups (52) who do not read Mandarin, do not have WeChat accounts, are not interested in China, and were annoyed by his no-show as their elected representative. Here is a more detailed explanation (53) for the Conservatives’ defeat in Chinese-populated seats in the 2021 Federal election.
Nevertheless, the Conservatives’ decision to scapegoat Chinese Canadians for their electoral defeat has been a huge success as shown by their pressure on the Trudeau government to launch the Johnston and Hogue inquiries. To achieve this level of fearmongering, the party had the support of other key players.
“Canada’s most trusted newspaper” (54) last year published two high-profile observations that many would consider to be authoritative definitions of the Chinese Threat.
According to the Globe and Mail’s (55) Andrew Coyne, China “has a comparative advantage in political interference, being able to recruit elements of the Chinese diaspora, often unwillingly.”
Forget the seeming concession that the veteran columnist with no known expertise on Asia or its people is blaming only some “elements of the Chinese diaspora”. Over the past year, he has added his influential voice to the runaway portrayal of Canada’s Chinese population as Beijing’s accomplice to undermine the West.
Coyne has the privilege of access to both the Globe and the CBC television network to push his psychedelic ideas to a national audience. It is a privilege denied Asian voices who are severely under-represented in the Canadian media, especially on topics related to Asia in which most mainstream journalists have neither the expertise nor the empathy.
Coyne repeated a standard fearmongering line in the Chinese Threat script: “Credible intelligence reports allege Beijing has planted supporters at every level of our politics, federal, provincial, and municipal.”
How credible are these reports?
As credible as this “expert” observation (56) published once again by the Globe and Mail:
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has passed legislation to force any person of Chinese origin anywhere in the world to support their intelligence services.”
This is beyond ridiculous, coming from David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He has classified the entire population of 60 to 80 million people of “Chinese origin anywhere in the world” as sleeper CCP agents awaiting Beijing’s orders to attack the West. He thinks every ethnic Chinese person, including those with no family, business, or professional ties with the People’s Republic of China, is somehow obligated or predisposed to obey some dubious, arbitrary law (57) enacted by Beijing.
Vigneault delivered his warning at a gathering of his peers from the “Five-Eyes” bloc representing the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. His insinuation about “any person of Chinese origin” does not seem out of place for an organization that is beset by protracted accusations of bigotry (58), discrimination, (59), toxic-work practices (60), and sex abuse (61) of employees.
Just as absurd, the Globe and Mail’s award-winning national security journalist, Robert Fife, reported Vigneault’s sweeping statement with no qualifier or questions. This is in keeping with his and the paper’s role in stoking the nation’s fears about an alleged out-of-control Chinese subversion of the Canadian political system.
The reporting by Fife and the Globe and Mail have to be taken with caution given their roles in a Canadian media hit job (62) in framing Maher Arar, an innocent man, as a terrorist more than 20 years ago. More on this later.
The CSIS Threat To Canada
Vigneault’s broadbrushing of “the Chinese” last October came right after his acknowledgments that CSIS is plagued by the scourge of systemic racism. The agency is still reeling from the effects of reputational damage and morale crisis brought on by a hugely damaging lawsuit in 2017. As the evidence piled up, he accepted that the lack of diversity in CSIS and its failure to deal with persistent complaints about systemic racism have become a national security issue in its own right.
Belatedly, Vigneault announced in a speech at the University of British Columbia in May 2022 that CSIS was “about to launch” (63) its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy.
While some mock DEI as a frivolous and dangerous (64) political fad, Vigneault seemed to understand that a CSIS packed with male agents and analysts of Anglo-American-European background will fail in today’s world. Like Canada’s white-heavy newsrooms, military-security organizations will struggle to read other cultures, societies, and countries.
“Recognizing the value of diversity and inclusion in CSIS’s practices and policies helps CSIS deliver its mandate more effectively,” he said in his UBC speech.
“Building cultural competence and understanding and learning to apply an intersectional lens helps us to better connect with and serve all Canadians.”
In an indirect concession to the Muslim Canadians that CSIS had unfairly targeted, including some of its own Muslim, black, and gay employees, he conceded:
“We are aware of the negative experiences that some have had with intelligence and law enforcement services, including CSIS, and how those experiences can resonate in hurtful ways with whole communities.”
Former CSIS agent Huda Mukbil pointedly calls the agency’s lack of diversity (65) a direct threat to Canada’s national security.
In May 2023, she released her groundbreaking book, Agent of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism (66), exposing CSIS’s problems in riveting detail. The book gives an unprecedented insider view of the agency’s hidden crisis in mismanaging and discriminating against employees of colour at a crucial time when it needs them most. She recounted the “institutional racism” that she and several other black and Muslim employees endured while trying to protect the country from the threat of religious extremists and terrorists.
If Canada is to deal with the security challenges of an increasingly complex, multipolar world, she argues that the country’s intelligence agencies must tap the talent and knowledge of the country’s diverse, multicultural population. CSIS will need the help of all Canadians to protect Canada.
Mukbil told the CBC (67) that she was treated as an insider threat and interrogated about her religion during her 15-year career at CSIS.
She resigned in 2017 after exhausting all options for redress against discrimination, and the right to be treated fairly and with respect. She and four other Muslim employees filed a landmark $35-million civil lawsuit (68) against CSIS in the Federal Court. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but their victory delivered a very clear and public rebuke to CSIS.
Yet, this was not the first time that CSIS had lost a high-profile legal battle tied to the agency’s problem with systemic racism. In 2006, three Muslim men each filed $100-million lawsuits against the Canadian government for its role in their wrongful detention and torture in Syria and Egypt. To add insult to injury, the men’s lawyers had to battle CSIS and the RCMP (69) which had both contributed to their clients’ torture, for access to thousands of heavily redacted files to prove their innocence. The victims won (70), forcing the Canadian government to pay up and issue grovelling apologies.
Maher Arar (71) is perhaps the most famous case of an innocent man done in by the combination of anonymous Canadian officials leaking false stories to friendly reporters (72). The same combination appears to be in play again today to drive the current fear environment about foreign interference.
Although the Canadian government apologized and compensated Arar for his suffering, and the RCMP chief (73) resigned in disgrace, there was little consequence for the rest who had contributed to the injustice. Apart from Giuliano Zaccardelli, it is not known if anyone else in government, intelligence, or the media has been held to account.
The Commission of Inquiry (74) appointed to investigate Arar’s framing named Fife, then with the Ottawa Citizen, and the Globe and Mail’s Jeff Sallot, among a group of reporters who had relied on anonymous sources for their sensational stories. On page 485 of Volume 2, Justice Dennis O’Connor cited Fife for having falsely reported the Syrian Canadian as “a very bad guy” who had trained with Al Qaeda. On page 486, O’Connor noted that Sallot had reported that Arar was “roughed up” in Jordan and held in appalling physical conditions in a Syrian prison, but not physically tortured. But Arar was tortured and suffered greatly. Sallot later reportedly apologized (75) to Arar for his reporting mistake.
These cases bode ill for the future as there is little guarantee that another coalition of fear-mongering politicians, intelligence agents, and journalists will not arise to commit similar human rights abuses. The Johnston and Hogue inquiries have not mentioned the mistakes committed in that environment of fear when anonymous military-security types and their media allies drove the agenda with no concern about ever being found out and held accountable. While Islamophobia is a relatively recent phenomenon, Sinophobia has a longer, deeper, and darker history in Canada going back to the country’s founding in 1867.
Would it be far-fetched to soon expect the first cases of innocent Chinese Canadians to be tagged and arrested as national security threats? That’s a question that the Hogue Commission will want to anticipate as relations between China and the West continue to worsen.
FOOTNOTES
1. https://www.cp24.com/news/foreign-interference-inquiry-to-probe-thorny-questions-on-secrecy-as-hearings-begin-1.6746195
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press, January 29, 2024. Foreign interference inquiry to probe thorny questions on secrecy as hearings begin
2. https://courdappelduquebec.ca/en/news/details/justice-hogue-is-appointed-commissioner-in-charge-of-the-public-inquiry-into-foreign-interference-in
Quebec Court of Appeal. September 7, 2023. Justice Hogue is appointed Commissioner in Charge of the Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions
3. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/foreign-interference-inquiry-report-extend-1.7070594
Sarina Mohan, CBC News, December 28, 2023. Justice Hogue’s first report on foreign interference in elections is now set to be delivered on May 3
4. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/johnston-pubblic-inquiry-report-1.6851735
Richard Raycraft, CBC News, May 23, 2023. Johnston says no to public inquiry on foreign interference. Prime Minister Trudeau said government will follow the recommendation and not call an inquiry
5. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/another-sham-inquiry-into-foreign-interference
Tasha Kheiriddin, December 9, 2023. Another sham inquiry into foreign interference
6. https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/hong-kong-diaspora-group-pulls-out-of-foreign-interference-inquiry
Marissa Galko, National Post Staff, Feb 20, 2024. Hong Kong diaspora group pulls out of foreign interference inquiry citing “grave concerns”. Second group to withdraw from the independent inquiry after the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP).
7. https://wengcouver.substack.com/p/canadas-far-right-foreign-interference
Ng Weng Hoong, October 4, 2023. Canada’s far-right foreign interference crisis.
8. https://rabble.ca/elections/johnstons-foreign-interference-report-further-shakes-public-confidence
Nick Seebruch May 24, 2023. Johnston’s foreign interference report further shakes public confidence
9. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jamie-sarkonak-david-johnston-attacked-media-for-not-pushing-pro-liberal-narrative
Jamie Sarkonak, May 30, 2023. David Johnston attacked media for not pushing pro-Liberal narrative
10. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvyOYWhZHSQ
CBC New, May 31, 2024. MPs vote in favour of removing David Johnston as special rapporteur
11. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/five-things-we-learned-in-david-johnston-s-first-report-on-foreign-interference-1.6409758
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press, May 23, 2023. Five things we learned in David Johnston’s first report on foreign interference
12. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/johnston-to-launch-foreign-interference-hearings-in-july-calls-allegations-of-bias-quite-simply-false-1.6429099
Rachel Aiello, June 9, 2023. Johnston to launch foreign interference hearings in July, calls allegations of bias ‘quite simply false’
13. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/david-johnston-the-right-man-to-whitewash-chinese-interference
Terry Glavin, March 22, 2023. David Johnston the right man to whitewash Chinese interference. He has spent a half century supporting Beijing’s strategy to draw Canada into its orbit of influence
14. https://thehub.ca/2023-06-07/new-allegations-and-a-full-accounting-of-ski-vacations-heres-what-we-learned-from-david-johnston-at-committee
Stuart Thomson, June 7, 2023. New allegations and a full accounting of ski vacations. Here’s what we learned from David Johnston at committee
15. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/18/c_136689652.htm
Xinhua, October 18, 2017. Socialism is great -- CPC congress sets eyes on 2049 and beyond
16. https://thedemlabs.org/2023/02/19/warning-signs-of-fascism
The Democracy Labs. February 19, 2023. Warning signs of fascism
17. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/18/c_136688933.htm
Xinhua, August 18, 2017. Xi unveils plan to make China ‘great modern socialist country’ by mid-21st century
18. https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/community-of-common-destiny-for-mankind
Stella Chen, August 25, 2021. Community of Common Destiny for Mankind
19. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/peng-shuai-china-disappeared-how-beijing-silences-critics
Jerome A. Cohen, November 23, 2021. China’s disappeared: How Beijing silences critics
20. https://apnews.com/article/china-human-rights-day-019854630542c241cb48447fc0435e6d
Sylvia Hui and Huizhong Wu, AP News, December 10, 2023. China is hardening against dissent, rights groups say as they mark International Human Rights Day
21. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/unease-among-china-scholars-japan-based-academic-disappears
Helen Packer, March 22, 2024. ‘Unease’ among China scholars as Japan-based academic disappears. Scholars increasingly wary of conducting research on and in China as the country strengthens national security laws
22. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/21/china-tries-to-bury-the-memory-and-trauma-of-zero-covid-era
Frederik Kelter, December 21, 2023. China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era
23. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/06/china-draconian-repression-of-muslims-in-xinjiang-amounts-to-crimes-against-humanity
Amnesty, June 10, 2021. China: Draconian repression of Muslims in Xinjiang amounts to crimes against humanity
24. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/china-un-experts-alarmed-separation-1-million-tibetan-children-families-and
UN Human Rights, February 6, 2023. China: UN experts alarmed by separation of 1 million Tibetan children from families and forced assimilation at residential schools
25. https://theconversation.com/chinas-push-for-mandarin-education-in-inner-mongolia-is-a-tool-for-political-repression-146049
Shannon Ward, November 4, 2020. China’s push for Mandarin education in Inner Mongolia is a tool for political repression
26. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-passes-law-granting-communist-party-more-control-over-cabinet-2024-03-11
Mei Mei Chu and Laurie Chen, Reuters, March 11, 2024. China passes law granting Communist Party more control over cabinet
27. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/China-widens-scope-of-state-secrets-law
C.K. Tan, Nikkei Asia, February 27, 2024. China widens scope of state secrets law. 'Work secrets' rule adds new wrinkle for business
28. https://theconversation.com/little-red-children-and-grandpa-xi-chinas-school-textbooks-reflect-the-rise-of-xi-jinpings-personality-cult-168482
Shih-Wen Sue Chen and Sin Wen Lau November 22, 2021. Little red children and ‘Grandpa Xi’: China’s school textbooks reflect the rise of Xi Jinping’s personality cult
29. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232364.shtml
Global Times, August 24, 2021. Xi Jinping Thought added into curriculum: Ministry of Education
30. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253700/chinas-communist-party-orders-cells-make-xi-jinping-thought-priority-cadres-must-study-presidents
William Zheng, February 29, 2024. China’s Communist Party orders cells to make Xi Jinping Thought a priority, cadres must study president’s speeches
31. https://www.straight.com/news/xi-jinpings-xinjiang-paradox
Ng Weng Hoong, December 25, 2021. Xi Jinping’s Xinjiang Paradox. An interview with Darren Byler on his latest book, In the Camps: China’s Hi-Tech Penal Colony
32. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/04/china-is-redefining-its-borders-with-its-neighbors-including-russia_6122600_4.html
Frédéric Lemaître, September 4, 2023. China is redefining its borders with its neighbors, including Russia
33. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/chinas-maritime-disputes
Council on Foreign Relations, 2023. China’s maritime disputes
34. https://www.voanews.com/a/vietnam-objects-to-china-expanded-reach-in-gulf-of-tonkin/7549424.html
Le Nguyen, March 31, 2024. Vietnam objects to China’s expanded reach in Gulf of Tonkin
35. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/tell-the-china-story-well-beijing-s-campaign-to-co-opt-chinese-diaspora-gains-urgency-amid-pressures
Tan Dawn Wei and Lim Min Zhang, Straits Times, February 4, 2024. The case of Philip Chan: Beijing steps up efforts to co-opt diaspora to ‘tell the China story well’
36. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/31/WS64f09da3a310d2dce4bb3372.html
China Daily, August 31, 2023. Xi's remarks on importance of overseas Chinese
37. https://wengcouver.substack.com/p/sinophobia-and-sinofascism-in-the
Ng Weng Hoong, September 26, 2022. Sinophobia and Sinofascism in the time of Xi Jinping
38. https://english.news.cn/20220730/fc3a00ba0e264b56a7123ed42cc927b3/c.html
Xinhua, July 30, 2022. Xi stresses unity of Chinese at home, abroad to pool strength for rejuvenation
39. https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/telling-chinas-story-well
China Media Project, April 16, 2021. Telling China’s story well
40. http://www.news.cn/english/2021-08/26/c_1310148193.htm
Xinhua, August 26, 2021. The Communist Party of China: Its mission and contributions. III. Robust Leadership and Strong Governance, item 4.
41. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/06/27/how-did-meng-wanzhous-arrest-affect-chinese-nationalism-in-vancouver/?sh=514eef033720
Quora Contributor, June 27, 2019. How did Meng Wanzhou’s arrest affect Chinese nationalism In Vancouver?
42. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/hong-kong-counter-protests-vasek-pospisil-cosplaying-while-black-ao3-gets-a-hugo-how-to-free-dive-and-more-1.5256258/counter-protests-against-pro-hong-kong-demonstrators-may-reflect-chinese-state-influence-1.5256272
CBC Radio, August 23, 2019. Counter-protests against pro-Hong Kong demonstrators may reflect Chinese state influence
43. https://nationalpost.com/news/uyghur-activist-who-sparked-chinese-student-protest-at-mcmaster-worried-about-message-targeting-her-son
Tom Blackwell, February 15, 2019. Uyghur activist who sparked Chinese-student protest at McMaster worried about message targeting her son
44. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/china-tibet-student-election-1.5019648
CBC News, February 14, 2019. ‘China is your daddy’: Backlash against Tibetan student’s election prompts questions about foreign influence
45. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/CACN/Reports/RP12720365/cacnrp04/cacnrp04-e.pdf
The Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship, November 2023. The Chinese Communist Party’s overseas police service stations
46. https://unherd.com/2024/03/the-chinese-students-policing-britains-universities
Sam Dunning, March 20, 2024. The Chinese students policing Britain’s universities Self-censoring academics live in terror
47. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/winnipeg-lab-firing-documents-released-china-1.7130284
Catharine Tunney, CBC News, March 2, 2024. Lies and scandal: How two rogue scientists at a high-security lab triggered a national security calamity.
48. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/07/27/chinas-approach-to-foreign-policy-gets-largely-negative-reviews-in-24-country-survey
Pew Research Center, July 23, 2023. China’s approach to foreign policy gets largely negative reviews in 24-country survey
49. https://angusreid.org/canada-us-china-friends-foes-favourability-of-nations/#gsc.tab=0
Angus Reid Institute. March 10, 2023. Friends and foes: Most Canadians say Ottawa should approach China as a ‘threat’ or ‘enemy’
50. https://nanos.co/most-canadians-are-concerned-or-somewhat-concerned-about-chinese-interference-in-canadian-society-seven-in-ten-view-it-as-a-major-threat-to-our-democracy-ctv-nanos
Nanos Research, March 3, 2023. Most Canadians concerned about Chinese interference in Canadian society; seven in ten view it as a major threat to our democracy.
51. www.uncommons.ca/p/climate-conversion-and-convoys-with-54f
Nate Erskine-Smith, June 7, 2022. Climate, conversion, and convoys with Erin O’Toole @15.55 minutes
52. https://www.richmond-news.com/opinion/letters-time-for-mr-chiu-to-move-along-4498972
Mahmood Awan, October 9, 2021. Time for Mr. Chiu to move along. A Richmond News reader is tired of the excuses coming from former MP Kenny Chiu
53. https://www.straight.com/news/ng-weng-hoong-sinophobia-with-canadian-characteristics
Ng Weng Hoong on July 10, 2022. Sinophobia with Canadian characteristics
54. https://globelink.ca/canadas-most-trusted-newspaper
The Globe and Mail: Canada’s most trusted newspaper and essential resource for insight and perspective
55. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-as-security-threats-mount-the-holes-in-canadas-defences-can-no-longer
Andrew Coyne, December 8, 2023. As security threats mount, the holes in Canada’s defences can no longer be ignored
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57. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-passes-revised-counter-espionage-law-state-media-2023-04-26
Laurie Chen, April 26, 2023. China approves wide-ranging expansion of counter-espionage law
58. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/09/14/news/bigotry-blinding-csis-and-rcmp-disastrous-effect
Bruce Livesey, September 14, 2017. Is bigotry blinding CSIS and the RCMP to disastrous effect?
59. https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/stuck-threshold-reform
Paul Weinberg, January 2, 2018. Stuck on the threshold of reform. Agency director admits to problem relating to some new immigrants and visible minorities in Canada.
60. https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2023/11/30/claims-of-toxic-workplace-at-csis-absolutely-devastating-pm-says
The Canadian Press, November 30, 2023. Claims of toxic workplace at CSIS absolutely ‘devastating’: Trudeau says
61. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/csis-to-probe-b-c-office-after-allegations-of-rape-harassment-and-toxic-workplace-1.6668728
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, December 1, 2023. CSIS to probe B.C. office after allegations of rape, harassment and toxic workplace
62. https://thewalrus.ca/hear-no-evil-write-no-lies
Andrew Mitrovica, December 12, 2006. Maher Arar was portrayed as a sly fox, a predator working with al-Qaeda. He turned out to be a hare, an innocent family man.
63. tashakheiriddin.substack.com/p/diaspora-nation
Tasha Kheiriddin, April 8, 2024. Diaspora Nation: On national security, diversity is not Canada’s strength, but our Achilles heel.
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CSIS Director David Vigneault, May 4, 2022. Protecting national security in partnership with all Canadians
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Ashley Burke, Kristen Everson, CBC News, June 29, 2021. A Muslim former intelligence officer says systemic racism at CSIS is a threat to national security.
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Huda Mukbil, “Agent of Change, My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies, and Institutional Racism” May 2023.
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Ashley Burke, Kristen Everson, CBC News, June 29, 2021. A Muslim former intelligence officer says systemic racism at CSIS is a threat to national security.
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The Canadian Press, December 15, 2017. Canada’s spy agency reaches settlement in discrimination and harassment lawsuit
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Nazim Baksh andTerence McKenna, CBC News, September 19, 2016. Documents show CSIS and RCMP’s role in post-9/11 torture of 3 Canadians in Syria. Canadian officials supplied Syrian authorities with interrogation questions.
70. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/goodale-freeland-settlement-apology-1.4016572
Nazim Baksh, Terence McKenna · CBC News, March 17, 2017. Federal government reaches settlement with 3 Canadian men tortured in Syria and Egypt. Ralph Goodale and Chrystia Freeland apologize for Canada's role in their detention and mistreatment
71. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar
Maher Arar, a Syrian-Canadian engineer, was wrongly detained, accused of being a terrorist and deported to Syria in 2002 where he was jailed and tortured. The Syrian government and a Canadian commission of inquiry later declared him innocent. Arar received an apology and a $10.5 million compensation from the Canadian government.
72. https://thewalrus.ca/hear-no-evil-write-no-lies
Andrew Mitrovica, December 12, 2006. Maher Arar was portrayed as a sly fox, a predator working with al-Qaeda. He turned out to be an innocent family man
73. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rcmp-s-embattled-chief-quits-over-arar-testimony-1.615927
CBC News, December 6, 2006. RCMP’s embattled chief quits over Arar testimony. “I must take responsibility for having added to the confusion”: Zaccardelli.
74. http://www.sirc-csars.gc.ca/pdfs/cm_arar_bgv2-eng.pdf
Dennis O’Connor, 2006. Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar
Report of the Events Relating to Maher Arar. Factual Background, Volume II
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Andrew Mitrovica. September 2, 2015. Maher Arar’s tortured purgatory