Tasha Kheiriddin: The Conservatives must take the Liberals to task on Chinese interference – National Post

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Last week Pierre Poilievre took a strong stand on Iran. Taking a stand against oppression and interference in Canadian affairs by Beijing is the logical next step

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In an era of increasing geopolitical instability, sovereignty has become a hot topic for governments worldwide. Mexico is seeking to establish energy sovereignty. France is planning ways to establish food sovereignty. And of course, countries around the world have denounced the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty in the four sham referenda recently held by Russia.

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So why is Canada, a fully sovereign nation, tolerating the presence of foreign police offices on Canadian soil?

The NP Comment newsletter from columnist Colby Cosh and NP Comment editors tackles the important topics with boldness, verve and wit. Get NP Platformed delivered to your inbox weekdays by 4 p.m. ET.

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As reported in the National Post last week, the government of China is currently operating at least three such offices here. Their purpose is ostensibly to persuade suspects of telecom fraud and other felonies to return to China to face prosecution. But according to a recent report by the group Safeguard Defenders, they form part of the United Front efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to intimidate and control its diaspora. In just the past year, 230,000 expats have been persuaded to return, often by denying family members in China access to health care and education and seizing their assets.

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What is more disturbing is that this type of CCP interference in Canada is nothing new. In 2015 Charles Burton, a former counsellor to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, penned a column in the National Post. In it, he excoriated then-foreign minister John Baird for having Ottawa sign agreements allowing Beijing to forcibly repatriate Chinese citizens accused of corrupt activities, as well as to exchange information with China on customs investigations. As Burton noted, At the same time that Chinese state enterprises are evidently behind much illegal export of Canadian classified and proprietary technology in the military and commercial sectors, (w)hy would we give China a heads-up on our interdiction methods, all the better for them to figure out how to evade them?

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Why indeed. The question today is why the current government has let this state of affairs continue. Throughout his prime ministership, Justin Trudeau has mishandled relations with China. Two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained for over 1,000 days by the Chinese state on trumped up charges. In 2020 Trudeau wasted millions of dollars attempting to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in co-operation with China, which ultimately came to nothing. And in 2021, he and his cabinet abstained from a House of Commons vote condemning the CCPs horrific genocide of the Uyghur people.

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If the Liberals will not stand up for Canadian interests, including those of Chinese Canadians, then the Conservatives must. And to their credit, they are. The party has revived its Canada-China committee under the stewardship of MP Michael Chong. And Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, a long-term critic of the Liberals foreign policy failures, has twice advanced The Foreign Influence Registry and Accountability Act, legislation that would require public disclosure of the lobbying of politicians and combat foreign infiltration into Canadian affairs.

Lets hope Housakos counsel on China is the one that prevails in new leader Pierre Poilievres inner circle. For the Tories will no doubt be nervous on this issue. Chinese state interference in the form of disinformation and intimidation likely cost them several seats in the 2021 federal election, notably those of Kenny Chiu, Alice Wong and Bob Saroya.

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The Conservatives will also be concerned about being called racist. But it isnt racism to call out the actions of a malign foreign government that oppresses its own citizens and those of foreign countries as well. The West did it for decades during the days of the former Soviet Union, which engaged in similar forms of repression.

If the Conservatives are going to call for freedom, let them do so where it really matters. Last week Poilievre took a strong stand on Iran, another dictatorship where human rights are routinely crushed. Taking a stand against oppression and interference in Canadian affairs by the CCP is the logical next step. Poilievre and his colleagues should use the next question period to ask Trudeau why foreign police offices are present on Canadian soil and demand that they be closed. While they may not get answers, the Tories will put the Liberals on notice that Canadian sovereignty is not to be compromised.

Postmedia News

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Tasha Kheiriddin: The Conservatives must take the Liberals to task on Chinese interference - National Post