government expels Chinese diplomat after alleged intimidation of elected official

Canada announced on Monday, May 8, the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat accused by Ottawa of having sought to intimidate a Canadian MP critical of the Beijing regime. “Canada has decided to declare Mr. Zhao Wei persona non grata”said the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.

“We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behavior they will be sent home”she added in a press release.

Already complicated relationships

This decision should further strain the already very complicated bilateral relations between the two countries. In this case, China on Friday deplored the “slanders” And “defamations” of Canada after the summons of its ambassador.

Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have been particularly tense since the arrest in 2018 by Canadian authorities of an official of the Chinese telecom group Huawei and the imprisonment, in retaliation by China, of two Canadian nationals. While all three have since been released, tensions have persisted, with Beijing blaming Ottawa for its alignment with Washington’s China policy and Canadian authorities regularly accusing China of interference.