Canada Expels Chinese Diplomat For 'Targetting' MP, Beijing Warns Of 'Countermeasures'

Canada has expelled a Chinese diplomat over allegations of targetting a lawmaker critical of Beijing's policies.

Canada has expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of targetting Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong who was critical of Beijing's treatment of Uyghur Muslims. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, "We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference," as quoted by Reuters, while China warned of 'countermeasures. The expulsion escalates already tense Sino-Canadian relations. The news agency said that spy agency Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in a 2021 report about Chinese influence in Canada. It included information about potential threats to Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Chong and his family. "It shouldn't have taken two years for the government to make this decision," Chong told media.

However, China said it never interfered in Canada's internal affairs and has no interest in doing so. China's Toronto consulate-general dubbed the report on Chong baseless and said it has "no factual basis." The Chinese embassy in Ottawa condemned the expulsion, and it has formally protested the move to the government. "China will resolutely take countermeasures," a spokesperson for the embassy said.

Earlier, Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu denied any interference in a statement and warned against expelling its diplomats. “Once again, China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately stop this self-directed political farce, and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path. Should the Canadian side continue to make provocations, China will play along every step of the way until the very end,” Cong said, as quoted by media.

However, the Canadian Foreign Minister said the intelligence agency report indicated that opposition Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong and his Hong Kong relatives were targeted after Chong criticised Beijing’s human rights record.

Chong had been critical of Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. In 2021, Michael Chong sponsored a successful motion that declared China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority genocide.

Details of the CSIS report came to light on May 1, when Canada's Glove and Mail newspaper reported 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 position.