Threats against an MP and his family | Ottawa expels Chinese diplomat

(OTTAWA) Canada is ousting a Chinese diplomat from the Toronto consulate, Zhao Wei, over the campaign of threats he orchestrated against MP Michael Chong and his family in Hong Kong. The Beijing envoy will have to leave the country in five days at the latest. China’s retaliation, meanwhile, is expected soon.

“Canada has decided to declare Mr. Zhao Wei persona non grata “, finally decided, Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, on whom the pressure was growing stronger so that she adopts a firm posture towards Beijing.

“I have been very clear: 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,” the head of diplomacy added in a written statement.

The expulsion of the Chinese diplomat comes a week after the publication of information in the Globe and Mail that Zhao Wei had maneuvered to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and members of his family in Hong Kong.

The main interested party appeared at the microphone of the foyer of the House of Commons to react to Minister Joly’s announcement.

The same goes for Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. “It’s the right decision, but it comes a week too late. In fact, it comes months too late. We should have expelled him in 2021, ”she said.

The “100%” chance of retaliation

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa was quick to show its supreme irritation on its website, warning that retaliatory measures were to follow and accusing Canada of violating international law by making the move.

“We advise the Canadian side to take a step back and not go further down the wrong path. If the Canadian side wants to act in a gratuitous and arbitrary manner, China will react to it in a firm and determined manner,” warned a spokesperson for the diplomatic mission.

The question is not so much whether, but how the Chinese regime will respond, argued in an interview the former representative of Quebec in China, Jean-François Lépine. “I think the chance of retaliation is 100%,” he said.

But one thing is certain, “Canada had no choice”, because the cases of Chinese interference became so well known to the general public that it had to make “this important gesture”, argued the former great reporter, not without ” hope that the information we have [le] justify, because for the moment, they are evocations”.

The Chinese diplomat will have to pack his bags and leave the country no later than five days, according to a Canadian government source who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the issue openly.

It would be the first time that a representative of the Middle Kingdom stationed in Canada has been shown the door at least since the 1970s, according to information provided by Global Affairs Canada on Monday.

The most recent evictions in 2018

The last deportations of foreign diplomats by Ottawa date back to 2018.

Canada had then shown the door to four Russian representatives as part of a concerted action “in solidarity with the United Kingdom”, to protest against the nerve gas poisoning of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal on the British soil.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which is calling for the expulsion of Russian diplomats, has taken note of the diplomatic punishment inflicted on China. “Representatives of a genocidal regime have no place in Canada,” the statement said.

THEY SAID