The crusade against the foreign agent registry by a Justin Trudeau-appointed independent senator of Chinese descent, one of the Liberals’ flagship measures against Beijing’s interference, has drawn the ire of many observers.
• Also read: Chinese interference: Special rapporteur will be appointed “in the coming days,” says Trudeau
• Also read: Multiple links between alleged Montreal police stations and the Chinese communist regime
British Columbia Senator Yuen Pau Woo likened the registry the federal government plans to set up to an old racist law dating back to 1923 that banned Chinese immigrants from entering the country and required all existing residents To.
In the Journal, he says he supports holding consultations on a registry and encourages Canadians “to consider how that registry can be developed to avoid penalizing and stigmatizing certain communities, stifling legitimate political debate and promoting community thinking.” .
But many observers see in his arguments the imprint of the propaganda of the communist regime in Beijing.
Mr. Woo is Xi’s husband [Jinping] in the Canadian Senate,” tweeted Paul Maddison, a former Royal Canadian Navy officer and Canada’s High Commissioner for Australia, at the UNSW Defense Research Institute in Canberra today.
Kayum Masimov of the Uyghur Rights Project also argues that the senator’s rhetoric is reminiscent of Beijing, which brandishes anti-Asian racism when it feels threatened.
“We people of Asian descent are the first victims of interventions, we live them every day,” he said. Without government action, without registration, until the RCMP has the means to defend us, that’s not going to change.”
Mr. Masimov suspects that “Mr. Woo acts within the Chinese Communist Party. We have no hard evidence, but all his behavior and speeches represent the Communist Party.
Former Conservative Ambassador and Minister Chris Alexander adds that the senator “has already shown himself willing to serve as spokesman for the Chinese Communist Party during its attacks on the rule of law in Canada.”
Mr Alexander called for Mr Woo’s resignation in 2021 after welcoming the release of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, by circulating a comment saying she had been taken hostage. Shortly thereafter, he attended a ceremony celebrating 72 years of Chinese Communist rule in Vancouver.
Mr Masimov added that Senator Woo voted against a motion equating China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority with “genocide” and encouraged 32 other senators to do the same.
The independent senator defends himself by pointing out that “these allegations, which come from important figures, are evidence of the dangers of a register of foreign influences”.
“They accused me of being a foreign agent, not based on evidence of dealings with a foreign government, but solely on my opinion,” he said. Imagine if we’d walked this path with other Canadians who don’t have the protection I have.”
The idea of a foreign agent register is inspired by Australia, where those who make representations to elected officials on behalf of foreign governments must publicly declare themselves under threat of criminal liability.