Protesters Concerned About Beijing Interference Hold Rally Outside BC Organization Probed by RCMP

As reports of Beijing’s interference on Canadian soil mount in recent months, a group of protesters concerned about such interference demonstrated outside a B.C. organization amid reports of China’s overseas police service stations.

Protesters at the Feb. 25 rally were seen carrying signs, some reading “No CCP interference in Canada,” “expel Chinese spies,” and “No to China police stations in Canada.” They were also heard chanting “CCP get out” or “oppose the CCP’s infiltration.”

“The reason we’ve chosen this location is because this society, the Wenzhou Friendship Society (WFS), has been investigated twice now by the RCMP,” said Andrew Wagner of HK Defense Initiative, which co-hosted the protest with the group Vancouver Activists of Hong Kong.

Andrew Wagner of the HK Defense Initiative speaks at a rally outside of a building that serves as the headquarters of the Wenzhou Friendship Society in Richmond, B.C., on Feb. 25, 2023. The protest was held to raise concerns about Chinese interference in Canada following media reports of an RCMP investigation at the building. Vivian Yu/NTD

In December 2022, RCMP national security officers reportedly visited the WFS building at 4266 Hazelbridge Way in Richmond and conducted interviews in the surrounding neighbourhood.

When asked about the nature of that visit, the RCMP told The Epoch Times it is “actively investigating reports nationally of criminal activity in relation to the so-called ‘police’ stations,” but declined to provide further details, saying investigations are underway.

“The RCMP is aware of foreign actor interference activity in Canada from foreign state actors. Various methods and techniques are in place to combat foreign actor interference within the RCMP’s mandate,” the police service said in an email statement on Feb. 27.

“While for operational reasons we cannot speak at length about this, however, should there be criminal or illegal activities occurring in Canada that are found to be backed by a foreign state, it is within the RCMP’s mandate to investigate this activity.”

A protester holds a sign that reads "No CCP interference in Canada" at a rally outside of the Wenzhou Friendship Society in Richmond, B.C., on Feb. 25, 2023. Vivian Yu/NTD

The RCMP visit came after media reports that a total of 102 unofficial Chinese police service stations were being operated in 53 countries by four local-level police bureaus in China.

The reports were based on studies published by the Spain-based human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders, which has identified five such Chinese police outposts in Canada, including three in the Greater Toronto Area and one in Vancouver.

Safeguard Defenders said in its studies that some of the overseas Chinese police stations have reportedly engaged in intimidating and coercing Chinese nationals living abroad who are suspected of crimes to return to China to face trial. But it noted that dissidents of the communist regime have also been targeted for harassment.

Election Meddling Investigation

Wagner also said his group was concerned about reports that WFS was investigated on allegations of “buying votes” in a previous municipal election.

In 2018, the RCMP reportedly investigated the WFS, after the organization allegedly sent out messages via the Chinese social media platform, WeChat, offering a $20 “transportation subsidy” to Chinese Canadians as an incentive to vote for certain political candidates of Chinese descent during that year’s municipal election.

Protesters at a rally outside of the Wenzhou Friendship Society in Richmond, B.C., on Feb. 25, 2023, were seen holding signs that read "Expel China's Spies" among other slogans. Vivian Yu/NTD

Wagner, who previously co-organized a similar protest at the WFS building in January, said media reports of the Safeguard Defenders’ studies added to the suspicion that he and other protesters have long felt for the association.

“It’s suspicious,” he said. “I don’t think it’s normal for a non-profit to be repeatedly visited by the police.”

WFS is a registered charity that describes itself on its website as a hometown association for people from Wenzhou, an industrial city in China’s Zhejiang Province. A director of the WFS previously confirmed to Global News that police were at the group’s “clubhouse” but said he didn’t know why. He also told the outlet that the society was not affiliated with the so-called “overseas Chinese police service stations” operating in Canada.

The headquarters of the Wenzhou Friendship Society is seen on Jan. 27, 2023. Screenshot/NTD

The Epoch Times has contacted WFS for comment but has not heard back.

Call for Action

Protestors also called attention to a recent report by the Globe and Mail on leaked documents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) showing Beijing’s elaborate strategy to disrupt Canada’s elections. The report noted that Beijing’s operation had two goals in mind for the 2021 federal election: the return of a Liberal minority and the defeat of Conservative candidates deemed unfriendly to the regime.

“The CCP is attacking our sovereignty; the CCP is threatening and harassing people in Canada; the CCP is eroding our elections with lies and propaganda,” said Father Richard Soo, the protosyncellus of the Eparchy of New Westminster, Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church in Canada, in a speech at the protest.

Soo also warned of Beijing’s attempt at long-arm policing, such as the introduction of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Article 38 of the Law says the scope of the appliance “shall apply to offences ... from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region,” which is widely regarded as asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction over any individual, including non-citizens of China or Hong Kong, anywhere in the world.

“That law says anyone anywhere in the world, anyone in Canada, who opposes [the Chinese authority] is a criminal,” Soo said, adding that the authorities in Beijing, “have no right to tell people in Canada what to do.”

Soo urged the federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to defend overseas Chinese people living in Canada.

“Let us, each one of us, call on the Government of Canada: protect us,” Soo said. “The Government of Canada must protect us. Prime Minister Trudeau, you must protect us.”

“Protect us,” the protesters chanted in response.

Wagner noted that Canada lacks the appropriate legislative tools to combat foreign interference, and called for the creation of a foreign agent registry, which would compel an individual or organization working on behalf of a foreign entity to register their activities with the government, or would otherwise face penalties.

Canada’s allies have either put in place or introduced their own versions of a foreign agent registry. The United States, which has a Foreign Agents Registration Act that dates back to 1938, introduced new legislation in recent years to address Beijing’s growing interference in the country.

Australia enacted the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme in 2018, while Britain introduced the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme in October 2022.

NTD contributed to this report.