Conservative MP Michael Chong, at the center of a saga over foreign interference in Canada, is urging lawmakers in the U.S. Congress to work with their northern neighbor to fight Beijing.
At the center of a case of Chinese interference that has been a political headache for the federal Liberal government, Michael Chong told his story to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
This commission, created in 2000 to monitor the human rights situation in Beijing, is a bipartisan committee composed of U.S. senators, members of the House of Representatives and government officials.
Mr. Chong said one of his main goals is to make clear how widespread Chinese foreign interference is, both in North America and around the world.
Several committee members, including New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, focused on how the United States and Canada could work more closely together.
Denounce with “light and transparency”
One of Michael Chong’s ideas is to expose this conduct with “light and transparency” — making public instances where China attempts to cajole and intimidate people.
Before his testimony, Mr. Chong said he was not intimidated by the risk that his testimony would make him an even bigger target for Beijing, particularly in the United States.
“They target me because I’m effective and so I feel obligated to continue to speak out, to give a voice to those who don’t have one,” he said in an interview.
“There are people across the country who have been targeted for years, whose stories are not being told and who are suffering in silence… This is what keeps me going,” he added.
Other witnesses Tuesday included Yana Gorokhovskaia of the pro-democracy think tank Freedom House; Laura Harth, campaign director of the human rights group Safeguard Defenders; and Uighur activist Rushan Abbas.
The commission closely monitors China’s intimidation tactics, as well as a list of people who have disappeared or been taken political prisoners.
The commission’s list includes Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were arrested and detained without cause in China for nearly three years, an apparent act of retaliation for Canada’s detention of the Huawei executive. , Meng Wanzhou.
Ms. Meng, the chief financial officer and daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver in 2018 on an extradition warrant related to Justice Department charges of bank and wire fraud.
Controversies in the Canadian Parliament
In Canada as in the United States, it can be difficult to avoid the specter of partisan politics when talking about China and foreign policy, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the channels global supply chains.
Virtually all domestic policy decisions in the United States are made in the broader context of ending American dependence on Chinese suppliers of raw materials, manufactured goods, and high-tech components like computer chips and minerals for batteries.
In Canada, where the federal government’s handling of allegations of Chinese foreign interference has sparked a whirlwind of controversy, a public inquiry is expected to begin early next week.
Mr Chong believes the government has still not done enough in the wake of the Huawei saga to properly strengthen its foreign policy approach to China, even as the US and other democracies embrace a more hawkish position.
“This does not surprise me, because I think it is a characteristic of the current government to be slow to implement,” he said. This government cannot act, so it does not surprise me that it is slow to react to this threat. »
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue of the Quebec Court of Appeal will lead the 16-month investigation, which is expected to look into allegations of interference in Canadian affairs by China, Russia and other foreign states and non-state actors.
A preliminary report is expected at the end of February and a final report in December 2024.
Not informed of threats
In May, the government confirmed media reports that intelligence officials had detected a Chinese plot in 2021 to intimidate Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong. The Liberal government expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after a sustained outcry in Parliament.
In response, the Chinese embassy expelled a diplomat from the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, and issued a statement accusing Ottawa of violating international law and acting on anti-China sentiment.
The alleged targeting of Mr Chong in 2021 came after he successfully sponsored a motion in the House of Commons calling Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims in China a genocide.
But he was never informed of the potential threats, a mistake he called a “systematic breakdown of the machinery of government.”
Former Governor General David Johnston was appointed special rapporteur to examine the issue, but he did not recommend a public inquiry, sparking a new round of partisan discontent. He also resigned from this position at the beginning of June.
Mr. Johnston’s report concluded that the government did not fail to act, knowingly or negligently, and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself was not informed of the specific allegations.