China on Tuesday expelled a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai in a tit-for-tat response after Ottawa told a Toronto-based Chinese diplomat to leave the country, escalating already tense bilateral relations amid concerns about Chinese influence in Canada.
Canada on Monday expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong, who has been critical of China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.
“We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday.
In response to Canada’s “unreasonable actions,” China told Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul in the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, to leave China by May 13, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The Canadian Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment on the expulsion order.
China’s decision to expel Lalonde, pictured here, follows Canada’s decision to expel Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong. (Jennifer Lalonde/Twitter)
China reserves the right to respond further, the Foreign Ministry said.
“In response to the Canadian side’s unreasonable provocation, China has adopted corresponding retaliatory measures,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a regular news conference. “This was absolutely just and necessary. We urge Canada to immediately stop its unreasonable provocations.”
Wang said that if Canada did not heed Beijing’s warning and continues to “act recklessly,” China will “fight back resolutely and forcefully, and the Canadian side must bear all the consequences.”
Diplomatic tensions running high
Diplomatic tensions have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on spying charges. All three were freed in 2021.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) authored a report in 2021 about Chinese influence in Canada that included information about potential threats to Chong and his family.
Details of the CSIS report came to light on May 1, when The Globe and Mail reported that China sought information about Chong and his family in China in a likely effort to “make an example” of him and deter others from taking anti-Chinese government positions.
An unnamed security source reportedly told The Globe that Zhao was allegedly working on efforts to target Chong’s family in China.
Canada expels Chinese diplomat
Canada has declared Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei ‘persona non grata’ after days of pressure from opposition parties. The diplomat has five days to leave Canada after being accused of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family living in Hong Kong.
“It shouldn’t have taken two years for the government to make this decision,” Chong told reporters after the expulsion was announced.
China denies interference
China has said it has never interfered in Canada’s internal affairs and has no interest in doing so. China’s Toronto consul general said the report on Chong has “no factual basis and is purely baseless.”
The Globe, citing an unnamed national security source, said Zhao was involved in gathering information about Chong, who has been a vocal critic of the Chinese government and had voted in favour of a House of Commons motion in 2021 calling Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur minority in China a genocide.
Chong said he was “profoundly disappointed” to find out about the potential threat to his family in Hong Kong from a newspaper, and criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for inaction. He has repeatedly called for Zhao’s expulsion since the Globe report.
Trudeau said he found out about the intelligence report from the newspaper, and on Wednesday blamed CSIS for not passing it on to him at the time.
Trudeau has previously said China attempted to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, but that the efforts did not change the outcome. He has appointed an independent special investigator to probe the allegations.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
