China 'exporting their authoritarianism overseas' through Canadian institutions, Hong Kong advocate warns
Jesse Snyder
POSTMEDIA
© Provided by National Post Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, testifies before the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations on May 31, 2021.
OTTAWA — Chinese authorities have been “exporting their authoritarianism overseas” by infiltrating democratic institutions in Canada and elsewhere as a way to stifle criticism of the Communist state, one expert told parliamentarians on Monday.
In testimony before the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations, Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, warned about extensive efforts by the Communist Party of China in recent years to sway public opinion and deflect criticism, even in foreign countries.
Chinese leadership has sought to exert control over foreign politicians, academics, media, and other institutions, including in Canada, as part of broader ambitions to grow its geopolitical position, she said.
Those efforts have at the same time gone largely unnoticed by the broader public, she said, which has in turn deepened Canada’s dependency on China even as it continues to skirt international rules around human rights or intellectual property.
“Threats, censorship and intimidation will continue as long as companies, not-profits, academia, politicians, media and other institutions with vested interests are fearful of angering Beijing,” Wong told the committee. “Beijing is effectively exporting their authoritarianism overseas.”
Increasingly, Wong said, critics of the Chinese government are silenced using a range of coercive tactics. Wong, who founded Alliance Canada Hong Kong, has reportedly herself faced threatening phone calls following her criticism of China’s efforts to seize control of the once-autonomous city-state.
“Dissidents are not safe,” she said. “Not at work, not in their homes, not in civil societies, and not in Canada.”
© Provided by National Post Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, testifies before the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations on May 31, 2021.OTTAWA — Chinese authorities have been “exporting their authoritarianism overseas” by infiltrating democratic institutions in Canada and elsewhere as a way to stifle criticism of the Communist state, one expert told parliamentarians on Monday.
In testimony before the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations, Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, warned about extensive efforts by the Communist Party of China in recent years to sway public opinion and deflect criticism, even in foreign countries.
Chinese leadership has sought to exert control over foreign politicians, academics, media, and other institutions, including in Canada, as part of broader ambitions to grow its geopolitical position, she said.
Those efforts have at the same time gone largely unnoticed by the broader public, she said, which has in turn deepened Canada’s dependency on China even as it continues to skirt international rules around human rights or intellectual property.
“Threats, censorship and intimidation will continue as long as companies, not-profits, academia, politicians, media and other institutions with vested interests are fearful of angering Beijing,” Wong told the committee. “Beijing is effectively exporting their authoritarianism overseas.”
Increasingly, Wong said, critics of the Chinese government are silenced using a range of coercive tactics. Wong, who founded Alliance Canada Hong Kong, has reportedly herself faced threatening phone calls following her criticism of China’s efforts to seize control of the once-autonomous city-state.
“Dissidents are not safe,” she said. “Not at work, not in their homes, not in civil societies, and not in Canada.”
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She also warned that that there is a “persistent lack of knowledge and understanding of these networks of influence within Canadian institutions, politics, and society,” which has in turn allowed Chinese efforts to influence Canada to go under the radar.
Wong’s group released a report on Monday detailing seven key areas in which China exerts control over foreign countries.
Among the various methods are efforts to establish political influence in Canada, for example by extending its Belt and Road initiative to include interconnectivity with strategic trade infrastructure overseas. The report cites the construction of the 470,000-square-foot “World Commodity Trade Center” near the Vancouver airport, which detractors say fits into Beijing’s broader strategy of controlling trade links and expanding its strategic interests.
Such efforts, including promises to invest massive sums into Canadian natural resources and other assets, has in turn dampened the willingness of Canadian politicians to criticize Chinese leadership, Wong said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced criticism for what some observers call a soft stance on China, which is widely attributed to Canada’s heavy dependence on the country for agricultural and other exports.
Another area of influence is the practice of “elite capture,” under which Chinese authorities seek to “create engagement, influence policy decisions, and form mainstream discussions that are more favourable to Chinese party-state interests,” according to the report.
The Chinese Communist Party spends roughly $10 billion per year on so-called “soft power” tactics, in which it seeks to sway public opinion through academic and other avenues. In the last 15 years, the party has installed roughly 500 Confucius Institutes on foreign university campuses, according to Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined, which promote Chinese culture through lessons in Mandarin, history, and a range of other subjects.
China has also expanded its influence through academia, particularly in the area of research and development, often through “ludicrous funding opportunities that trap academics and researchers into long-term coercive relationships” funded by foreign actors, the report said.
Canadian politicians on all levels have gradually become more aware of such efforts, the report said, but “inadequate federal regulations” in particular have allowed such partnerships to continue.
The Alberta government last week ordered the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of Lethbridge and Athabasca University to review their current research programs with Chinese entities, saying they must report back to the government within 90 days. THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE AT THE EPSB
Chinese funding for research, some observers say, is often used to deepen its surveillance and military capabilities, which it turn uses it against foreign dissidents to silence criticism.
“Beijing aims to influence the next generation of technologies to disrupt, dominate, and silence democratic nations, making it clear they do not intend to follow the international order or be a fair and transparent global partner,” the report said.
China uses WeChat and other forums, the report said, as a way to activate certain communities in Canada more sympathetic to the Communist Party of China’s interests. That is part of a broad effort that involves “creating a Chinese social media empire, grooming web warriors to steer online discourse, compromising social media influencers, and destroying the watchdog role journalists are meant to play,” the report said.
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