Trudeau says expulsion of Chinese diplomat shows Canada 'will not be intimidated'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saidhis government's decision to expel a Chinese diplomat Monday sends a direct message to Beijing that Canada will not be intimidated by China.

Trudeau made the remarks a day after expelling Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong, who has been critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.

"We needed to move forward in a responsible way to send a very clear message that we will not accept foreign interference and, regardless of whatever next choices they make, we will not be intimidated," Trudeau said Tuesdayon his way into a cabinet meeting.

A senior government source told CBC News that before the decision to expel Zhao was made,Foreign Affairs MinisterMlanie Jolyasked ministers involved in trade and security filesfor feedback on possible retaliation from China.

The source also said Canada did not give China the option of pulling their diplomat out of Canada before he was expelled.

Trudeau said the expulsion sends China, and other countries trying to interfere in domestic Canadian affairs, a message that Canada takes foreign interference "extraordinarily seriously."

"Expelling a diplomat, declaring a foreign diplomat persona non grata, is a significant and serious step," he said.

"We took a little less than a week to reflect on it, to look at the possible implications, to make sure that what we were doing both demonstrates Canada's firmness, which it does, but also keeps Canadians and our interests protected."

The government has been under fire from the opposition over what they say has been a sluggish response.

WATCH | Expulsion was carefully considered, PM says:

Decision to expel Chinese diplomat taken with 'careful consideration:' Trudeau

1 year ago

Duration 1:31

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he understands that China has retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomat, but says Canada will 'not be intimidated.'

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) authored a report in 2021 on Chinese influence in Canada that included information about potential threats to Chong and his family.

Details of the CSIS report came to light on May 1, when The Globe and Mail reported that China sought information about Chong and his family in China in a likely effort to "make an example" of him and deter others from taking anti-Chinese government positions.

An unnamed security source reportedly told The Globe that Zhao, then posted to theChinese consulate in Toronto, was allegedly working on efforts to target Chong's family in China.

Trudeau said he found out about the intelligence report from the newspaper and blamed CSIS for not passing it on to him at the time.

'It's about time,' says former envoy

Guy Saint-Jacques, who was the Canadian ambassador to China under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told CBC News on Tuesday that the federal government should have acted more quickly once it learned of Zhao's alleged activities.

"It's about time ... We have learned so much in the last few months on Chinese interference in Canada that it begs the question why were no actions taken much earlier," he said.

Zhao is alleged to have targetedChong and his family when China was detainingMichael Kovrig and Michael Spavorover Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive for the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Because of the heightened tensions between Ottawa and Beijing at the time,Saint-Jacques said,any intelligence report of that nature should have made it to the Prime Minister's Office and Canadians have a right to know why it didn't.

"This should have raised a number of red flags in Ottawa," he said. "Is this a systemic problem or did someone fail to do his job? I think that a full inquiry would help to qualify what went on and to make adjustments."

'Serious action'

Saint-Jacques said Canada needs to take control of its relationship with China bycreating a registry of foreign agents that would include anyone working for the Chinese state.

"We have to reassure Canadians of Chinese origin that if they are intimidated or harassed byChinese officials, that if they report their problem, that we will take serious action. That there will be a follow-up by police, which has not been the case so far," he said.

WATCH | Canada expects more retaliation from China:

Canada braces for retaliation over Chinese diplomat's expulsion

1 year ago

Duration 2:36

China expelled Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai, just hours after Canada named Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei persona non grata over allegations he tried to intimidate a Conservative MP's family. Government sources say China could make further retaliatory moves involving trade or security.

Charles Burton, former counsellor at the Canadian embassy in China, said it's likely there are more agents of China in Canada harassing Chinese dissidents.

"If China does something nasty in response to the expulsion of Mr.Zhao, I'm pretty sure that CSIS has quite a long list of other diplomats that we would be well justified to expel," he said.

Saint-Jacques said China's decision to expel Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, the consul in Shanghai, was a measured action that shows China does not want to escalate the situation further.

The senior government source said that Lalonde has yet to leave China andJoly would be speaking with her soon.

Beijing's 'astroturfing' tactic

Cherie Wong and Ai-Men Lau, ofAlliance Canada Hong Kong, told a committee of MPs Tuesday that China is engaged in widespread efforts to influence and intimidate the Chinese diaspora in Canada.

Their committee appearance was beset by a number of technical issues that included static flooding the online stream and problems with translation. Both issues caused the committee to suspend proceedingstemporarily.

Wong told MPs she is convinced that China is targeting her personally with cyberattacks. She said that minutes after receiving an email invitation to appear at committee, her Internet connection at home failed and she could no longer connect with her laptop.

"This is not the first incident of it occurring," she said. "And there is a pattern of ...when I do receive emails from MPs offices or committees, that my home Internet or my devices encounter technological difficulties."

Wong, who was testifying in person, said previous attempts to speak to parliamentary committees virtually have also been beset by technical difficulties.

"I have appeared in Canada-China relations, I've appeared in IRCC committee as well as the ethics committee and all had tech issues appearing electronically," she said.

Wong told MPs that Beijing also uses a method known as "astroturfing" to legitimize and disguise its operations in Canada.

"Astroturfing are initiatives that Beijing undertakes to try to appear to be a grassroots ethnic organization," Wong toldMPsTuesday.

"They do this either by using a similar name or an acronym of an existing organization, or they form a shell organization to appear to be a community grassroots effort."

Ai-Men told MPs via video-link from Taiwan that a foreign influence transparency scheme that targets fake community groups by revealing their connections to Beijing would be a good way to disrupt foreign interference from China.

It "would provide Canadians with the very much needed knowledge on how these astroturfing operations function within Canadian society and to better inform Canadians of the organizations they may be engaging with," Ai-Men said.