(Ottawa) The Chinese community in Canada has long been caught in the crosshairs of political discourse, disinformation and propaganda from Beijing’s Communist Party, a media industry veteran told a public inquiry Tuesday.
If Beijing seeks to influence or interfere in Canada’s democratic processes, one of its most effective tools is Chinese-language media, said Hong Kong-born Victor Ho, who came to Canada in 1997 and has worked in the written and radio press over the years.
From Toronto to Vancouver, much of the Chinese-language media operates “under the immense influence” of the Communist Party, Mr. Ho said.
The latest hearings of the ongoing commission of inquiry focus on detecting and countering foreign interference. A final report from the investigation is expected to be released by the end of the year.
Mr Ho was part of a panel of media representatives from the Chinese and Indian communities as the survey looked into the effects of mass communication on public attitudes.
The inquiry heard allegations that China was pressuring advertisers and India was denying travel documents as part of tactics to shape the content of stories about their governments in Canada.
In addition to controlling traditional media, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also exported its digital influence through popular Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat, TikTok and Weibo, Ho said.
“These platforms are used to flood the local Chinese community with CCP narratives serving as vehicles for political indoctrination under the guise of social interaction. »
Ronald Leung, host of a weekly television interview show, highlighted the challenges of competing with disinformation and misinformation emanating from foreign adversaries.
“We are in an information war,” said Mr. Leung, who was also born in Hong Kong and came to Canada as a student in 1983.
Asked if he practiced self-censorship on air, Mr Leung replied: “I exercise caution and I am very careful every time I speak on the radio. »
Mr. Leung said he knew not to cross “the red line” because if he did, “I don’t think I could continue to do my job, to present a Canadian perspective on international issues . This is how I still work in Chinese media. »
Witnesses largely echoed a July 2023 intelligence assessment recently tabled at the inquiry that said pro-Communist Party narratives are “flooding Chinese-language media in Canada.”
“Censorship [y compris l’autocensure] is ubiquitous and alternative media voices are few or marginalized in mainstream Chinese-language media,” says the document produced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Intelligence Assessment Secretariat of the Privy Council Office. “This includes traditional media such as newspapers, and new media provided by online platforms and applications such as WeChat. »
Gurpreet Singh, who hosts a 30-minute daily talk show, told the inquiry on Tuesday that the Indian government had compiled a dossier on him that was used to publicly discredit him over a high-profile issue in the news.
“It’s based on a lot of misinformation, which is also very worrying. They described me as anti-Indian, anti-national,” said Mr. Singh, who left India for Canada in 2001.
Mr Singh said he had also faced backlash on social media. “I stopped paying attention to it, anyway, because it really affects your mental health. »
A senior official with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission testified Tuesday that the federal broadcasting regulator plays a “relatively minor role” in identifying and combating foreign interference.
To my knowledge, the number of complaints we have received specifically about foreign interference has been relatively small.
Scott Shortliffe, CRTC Broadcasting Director
“We are not integrated into the national security architecture, so we have not, at least until now, played a major role. »
Mr. Shortliffe said the CRTC had received complaints about alleged propaganda, but stressed that officials were “extremely reluctant to become the arbiter of what is true and what is propaganda.”
“Instead, we preferred to say that we should have pluralistic sources of information so that Canadians can form their own opinions. »