New diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Ottawa: China on Tuesday announced the expulsion of the Canadian consul in Shanghai in retaliation for a Chinese diplomat accused of trying to intimidate a Canadian MP.
Bilateral relations have been strained since the 2018 arrest by Canadian authorities of an official at Chinese telecommunications group Huawei and China’s detention of two Canadian nationals in retaliation.
Although all three have since been released, tensions continued, with Beijing blaming Ottawa for its alignment with Washington’s China policy and Canadian authorities regularly accusing China of meddling.
The Canadian daily Globe and Mail reported last week that Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family had come under Chinese pressure because of the MP’s criticism of Beijing.
The newspaper alleges that Chinese intelligence services targeted Mr. Chong because he voted in February 2021 on a motion that equated China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority with “genocide.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, the Canadian consul in Shanghai, is now “persona non grata” and must “leave China before May 13.”
“China reserves the right to take other retaliatory measures,” the document adds.
In the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, staff told the AFP news agency that they were not aware of the decision. A Chinese police car was parked in front of the diplomatic mission building.
“Unjustified Provocation”
Neither Canada’s foreign ministry nor its embassy in Beijing immediately commented.
“We advise the Canadian side to stop their unjustified provocations,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, told reporters on Tuesday.
He warned that China will “act decisively and forcefully” if Canada “does not heed this advice.”
That new diplomatic crisis was sparked by Canada’s decision on Monday to expel Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who Canada believes was involved in the alleged intimidation operation against MP Michael Chong.
“We will not tolerate any foreign interference in our internal affairs,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in announcing Zhao’s expulsion.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Zhao Wei, an official at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, will be deported in the coming days.
The decision was immediately castigated by China, Canada’s second largest trading partner, which accused Ottawa of “sabotage” the already strained bilateral relationship.
In this case, China had already denounced “slander” and “slander” of these alleged interferences last week when its ambassador was summoned by Canada’s foreign ministry.
Punish
The Uyghurs, mostly Muslims, are the main ethnic group in Xinjiang (northwest China), a region long plagued by bloody attacks that authorities blame on Islamists and Uyghur separatists.
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In the mid-2010s, the Chinese authorities launched a full-scale crackdown in the name of counter-terrorism. The UN speaks of crimes against humanity.
Accompanied by two other American figures, Michael Chong was sanctioned by Beijing in March 2021 after his vote, in response to Canada’s and the United States’ first sanctions against China on the issue.
The targets were banned from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at the time.
For weeks, Justin Trudeau’s government has come under increasing pressure to speak out against Beijing, which has been accused of numerous interferences in Canadian affairs. And these revelations from the press had increased the suspense by another notch.
China is particularly suspected of trying to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections. A series of articles published by the Canadian media specifically addresses the secret funding or involvement in the election campaign of certain candidates.
Allegations “strongly” denied by Chinese authorities.