CSIS confirms to MP that he and family were targeted by China – The Globe and Mail

Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Chong is applauded as he rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on May 2, 2023.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service on Tuesday confirmed to Conservative MP Michael Chong that he and his family were targeted by the Chinese government after he sponsored a parliamentary motion condemning Beijings conduct in Xinjiang as genocide, the MP says.

He said CSIS also confirmed that Zhao Wei, a Chinese diplomat in Canada, was involved.

The Globe and Mail first reported the situation on Monday, citing a top-secret CSIS intelligence assessment prepared in July 2021.

The briefing provided to Mr. Chong took place Tuesday in Ottawa.

Mr. Chong declined to identify the senior CSIS official who briefed him, but said the official told him he was authorized to read to him from the CSIS report quoted by The Globe because it relates to a threat to you and your family.

The Canadian government told Mr. Chong Tuesday it is investigating why he was not alerted about this.

Mr. Chong said the failure to notify him of Chinas targeting represents either a breakdown of the machinery of government or a political failure by the Liberal government.

He is also asking Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to find the Peoples Republic of China in contempt of Parliament for efforts to intimidate an MP.

The Globe and Mails report on the July, 2021 intelligence assessment by CSIS found Chinas intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has taken specific actions to target Canadian MPs linked to the February, 2021, parliamentary motion condemning Beijings oppression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities.

That motion, which passed, declared that Chinas conduct amounts to genocide.

The spy agency said an MSS officer sought information on an unnamed Canadian MPs relatives who may be located in the PRC [Peoples Republic of China], for further potential sanctions.

This effort, the CSIS report said, is almost certainly meant to make an example of this MP and deter others from taking anti-PRC positions.

A national-security source, whom The Globe did not name in the Monday story because they risk prosecution under the Security of Information Act, said the MP targeted was Mr. Chong, and that Mr. Zhao was working on this matter.

Mr. Zhao is listed in the Department of Global Affairs record of foreign diplomats as working in Chinas Toronto consulate. In February, The Globe reported that a national-security source described Mr. Zhao as a suspected intelligence actor.

The Globe reported Monday that according to the top-secret intelligence assessment from CSIS, China sees Canada as a high-priority target and employs incentives and punishment as part of a vast influence network directed at legislators, business executives and diaspora communities.

The report warned that Beijing is the foremost perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada. Its agents are unconcerned about repercussions, the report says, because of the lack of obstacles such as a foreign-influence registry.

Its not known whether elected officials in Canada gained access to the report, which was produced by the agencys Intelligence Assessment Branch and dated July 20, 2021, several weeks before the federal election campaign got under way.

The assessment is presented as a baseline for understanding the intent, motives and scope of Beijings foreign interference in Canada.

The nine-page document, seen by The Globe and Mail, is the latest example of the warnings published by Canadas security service in recent years. Its marked top secret and for Canadian eyes only.

It said Canada needs to erect more obstacles to foreign interference. Absent real disincentives, such as a foreign-influence registry and indictments of foreign-interference actors, Chinese targeting of Canada is expected to continue and increase over time.

Threat actors almost certainly perceive their activities in Canada to be low-risk and high reward, the assessment said.

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CSIS confirms to MP that he and family were targeted by China - The Globe and Mail