China’s ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu alleged in an op-ed on Wednesday that the actions of Chinese consulates involved in election interference claims reported by intelligence sources were business as usual.
The guest article was published by the outlet Ottawa Life Magazine.
“Recently, some Canadian politicians and media outlets, out of ulterior motives, have been hyping up the so-called allegations that Chinese consular institutions in Canada interfered in Canada’s federal elections and internal affairs, and even engaged in spying activities,” wrote Cong.
“Once again I call on the Canadian side to abandon ideological prejudice, stop politicizing and stigmatizing the normal performance of duties and functions of Chinese diplomatic and consular missions and personnel, and stop smearing and attacking China.”
As more election interference claims involving China’s diplomatic mission to Canada mount, the Chinese government has begun to lash out by accusing Canada of interfering in China’s affairs. China has been accused of facilitating donations to the Trudeau Foundation and bussing out supporters for Liberal MP Han Dong’s nomination meeting.
In another statement issued earlier this month the Chinese embassy called Canada’s criticism of China on human rights grounds “out-and-out interference” in the country’s internal affairs.
On top of allegations that China interfered in the 2019 and 2020 federal elections, on Thursday the Globe and Mail reported that Chinese diplomats tried to groom candidates for Vancouver’s municipal elections in 2022.
“Is there any interference in internal affairs? Yes, there is, but none of them were done by China. China has never interfered in other countries’ internal affairs,” claimed Cong.
“For a long time, Western countries such as the US and Canada have indulged in political manipulation on Taiwan question and issues related to China’s Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and human rights, condoned and supported anti-China activities and harmed China’s security and stability.”
As exclusively reported by True North earlier this week, suspected Chinese bots have engaged in manipulating the conversation around election interference by parroting Beijing’s official stance on the issue.
“Non-interference in internal affairs is a basic principle of China’s diplomacy. Canada is asked to take back its dirty hands (from) interfering in China’s internal affairs, such as issues related to Xinjiang and Taiwan,” tweeted one of the suspected accounts.
