#Canada #ChinaInfluence
China dissuades Canadian MPs from meeting rights activists
According to a report from Amnesty International and Canadian rights group released in May, Chinese government has increasingly resorted to “threats, bullying and harassment” to intimidate and silence activists in Canada, including those raising concerns about democracy and civil rights in Hong Kong and Beijing’s mistreatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners.
Canadian MPs visiting Hong Kong in late 2017 were informed that Chinese authorities did not want the MPs meeting with Hong Kong leading pro-democracy figures such as Joshua Wong or Anson Chan.
In early 2019, Ms. Linda Duncan, NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona at the time, was contacted by the Chinese embassy in Canada advising her not to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exile spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney said the call to Ms. Duncan “was an appalling example of interference.”
Besides these revealed incidents, China may have exerted other covert influence over foreign politicians.
Source: The Globe and Mail #Aug22
#AmnestyInternational #LindaDuncan #Uyghurs #Tibet #Falungong
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mps-say-chinese-officials-have-tried-to-dissuade-them-from-meeting/
China dissuades Canadian MPs from meeting rights activists
According to a report from Amnesty International and Canadian rights group released in May, Chinese government has increasingly resorted to “threats, bullying and harassment” to intimidate and silence activists in Canada, including those raising concerns about democracy and civil rights in Hong Kong and Beijing’s mistreatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners.
Canadian MPs visiting Hong Kong in late 2017 were informed that Chinese authorities did not want the MPs meeting with Hong Kong leading pro-democracy figures such as Joshua Wong or Anson Chan.
In early 2019, Ms. Linda Duncan, NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona at the time, was contacted by the Chinese embassy in Canada advising her not to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exile spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney said the call to Ms. Duncan “was an appalling example of interference.”
Besides these revealed incidents, China may have exerted other covert influence over foreign politicians.
Source: The Globe and Mail #Aug22
#AmnestyInternational #LindaDuncan #Uyghurs #Tibet #Falungong
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mps-say-chinese-officials-have-tried-to-dissuade-them-from-meeting/
The Globe and Mail
MPs say Chinese officials have tried to dissuade them from meeting rights activists
Recent hearings by the special House of Commons committee on Canada-China relations have shone a spotlight on efforts by Beijing to shape public opinion in Canada