The Chinese Embassy in Canada issued a statement on Tuesday condemning Canadian media coverage of China’s authoritarian takeover of Hong Kong.
In the statement, an embassy spokesperson called on Canadian media outlets to tow the Chinese Communist Party line when it comes to Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“We urge Canadian media to uphold the correct position on issues concerning China’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and other major core interests, abide by the one-China principle, and not to provide a platform for the activities of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces so as not to send wrong signal,” claimed the Embassy.
The statement was written in response to a January article published in the Hill Times in which the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada slams Chinese intervention in Hong Kong.
“The recent large-scale crackdown in Hong Kong serves as a test of our collective ability to defend democracy globally; if we fail this test, the next one will certainly be much more challenging,” wrote Ambassador Winston Wen-yi Chen.
In response, the Chinese embassy claims Taiwan is intervening in Hong Kong’s affairs.
“Foreign interfering forces and ‘Taiwan independence’ forces have blatantly ramped up intervention in Hong Kong affairs, which severely undermines Hong Kong’s public security and seriously challenges the bottom line of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” wrote the embassy.
This is not the first instance where the Chinese government has sought to influence Canadian media coverage of its affairs.
Last fall, Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu accused unnamed Canadian media outlets of spreading disinformation about China.
“Some Canadian media out of the motive to seek attention distort the truth about China which has misled the Canadian public,” said Cong during a speech to the Canada-China Friendship Society.
Earlier this year, the Embassy also released a statement accusing Canadian media of “smearing” the Chinese Communist Party and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Some Canadian media have taken the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to smear and attack China’s political system, style of diplomacy and anti-pandemic response. The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this,” they wrote.
“Smearing and pointing fingers will not help fight against the pandemic. We urge relevant media to respect the fact and stop irresponsible reports and attacking and smearing China.”
Recently the federal government announced new immigration measures meant to help Hong Kongers immigrate to Canada.
