Trudeau says expulsion of Chinese diplomat shows Canada ‘will not be intimidated’ | CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government’s decision to expel a Chinese diplomat Monday sends a direct message to Beijing that Canada will not be intimidated by the Asian economic superpower. 

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,” he said Tuesday, on his way into a cabinet meeting. 

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.”

WATCH | Expulsion was carefully considered, PM says: 

Decision to expel Chinese diplomat taken with ‘careful consideration:’ Trudeau

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

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

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 at the Chinese 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, in fact, 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 been targeting Chong and his family when China was detaining Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor over 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 says, 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 says Canada needs to take control of its relationship with China and take action to prevent further interference, such as creating 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 by Chinese 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. 

Charles Burton, former counsellor at the Canadian embassy to China, says 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.”

Saint-Jacques said China’s decision to expel Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, the consul in Shanghai, in a tit-for-tat response, was a measured act that shows China does not want to escalate the situation further.