Vancouver Area Council Members Attend Chinese National Day Celebration, as Global Protests Are Held Against the CCP

The Chinese Consulate in Vancouver in a file photo. Melodie Von/NTD

Some Vancouver-area municipal politicians recently participated in an event where Chinese consulate representatives celebrated the founding of the communist regime in Beijing.

On the same day, a number of rights groups gathered to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in cities across Canada and in other countries, as part of a global movement against the regime’s authoritarian rule.

The Oct. 1 celebration was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery and titled “The 4th Chinese Culture and Art Festival,” according to several Chinese-language media. China’s Consul-General in Vancouver Yang Shu and Deputy Consul-General Wang Chengjun attended the event.

Phoenix Television, a media outlet partially owned by Beijing, reported that the event was to celebrate the 73rd National Day of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Yang said in a speech that Chinese-Canadians expressed “their genuine birthday wishes to their motherland.”

City of Richmond councillors Alexa Loo and Chak Kwong Au attended the event, and Phoenix Television reported that the Canadian politicians joined in the celebration of the PRC’s National Day.

The Epoch Times asked Chak and Loo for comment. Chak didn’t respond, while Loo said her attendance at various community events “is not an endorsement of a particular belief.”

“I attend community events, because I am part of the community. Arts, culture and sport are an excellent means of coming together, to learn about each other and create community,” she said in an email.

One of the groups co-hosting the Chinese Culture and Art Festival was the United Global Chinese Women’s Association of Canada (CWACA), according to a screenshot of a WeChat post from the organization shared by the substack Found in Translation. The Epoch Times reached out to CWACA but didn’t hear back.

On Sept. 10, Loo attended another event organized by CWACA, this time to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and establish a Chinese library. The new library is closely affiliated with the Nantong Overseas Chinese Library in China, whose co-founder, Zhen Xiang, is also the vice-chairman of an organization, the Federation of Jiangsu Returned Overseas Chinese. The Federation said on its website that it follows the thoughts of former and current CCP leaders, including the spirit of “united front work.”

“The Federation of Jiangsu Returned Overseas Chinese will conscientiously implement the opinions of the Central Party Committee and the Provincial Party Committee ... study and implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches,” the website said, adding that it will “uphold the spirit of united front” and “actively expand overseas work and work related to new overseas Chinese immigrants.”

Loo said the Sept. 10 festival was a “multicultural art event.”

“Our public library has many books with different views, and opinions on myriad topics, including fascism, nazi, apartheid, gender issues, inclusivity etc. Ideas are not the enemy. Ignorance is the enemy,” she said in her email.

Library Project

At the Sept. 10 library unveiling, CWACA president Maria Xu described the new library as a “book drifting station,” explaining that “drifting” refers to the books having been first collected in China and then going on to other parts of the world.

The library is part of a project that aims to build 100 such overseas Chinese libraries worldwide by the end of 2023.

The project was spearheaded by Zhen Xiang, founder of the Nantong Overseas Chinese Library, which is based in Nantong City, Jiangsu province, China.

In October 2021, Xu’s organization made a donation to the Nantong Overseas Chinese Library at an event where she met with Zhen, who said at the time that the book drifting stations will help “spread overseas the voice of the Chinese Communist Party and country, as well as knowledge of Chinese culture.”

At the Sept. 10 event, Xu entered into an agreement with 11 Chinese-language schools and four educational institutions in British Columbia to establish more “book drifting stations.” As of mid-August 2022, the Nantong Overseas Chinese Library had made agreements with overseas Chinese organizations and Chinese-language schools in 27 countries, to build a total of 42 book drifting stations, according to an Aug. 19 article published on the Nantong City government website.

Since 2016, Xu has been an honourary chair of the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA), a co-host of the Oct. 1 celebration at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

CACA, an umbrella organization encompassing over 100 Chinese organizations, has previously echoed Beijing’s party line on certain issues, such as supporting the CCP’s claims to Taiwan in a letter published in Chinese-language media in September.

The Epoch Times reached out to CACA for comment but didn’t hear back. The Epoch Times also previously reached out to Xu for comment but didn’t hear back.

Global Anti-CCP Protest

On Oct. 1, multiple organizations held demonstrations in major Canadian cities, including Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, in solidarity with a global anti-CCP protest to coincide with the PRC’s National Day celebration.

In Vancouver, over 300 people gathered outside the Chinese consulate to protest the communist regime’s abuse of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as other dissidents. Protesters came from various geographic backgrounds, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The protesters chanted while holding signs with slogans such as “Human rights for China,” and “Stop China’s Intrusion Now.”

Protesters hold signs at an anti-CCP demonstration held outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver on Oct. 1, 2022. NTDTV/Melodie Von

The Chinese consulate in Vancouver is about a 10-minute drive from the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In Toronto, up to 500 people from a total of nine organizations gathered at the Chinese Embassy to protest Beijing’s repression of the Chinese people. Protesters carried numerous signs and banners reading, “Free Hong Kong,” “Free Xinjiang,” “Free Tibet,” as well as “Shame on CCP” and “CCP get out.”

A sign seen outside of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver, where multiple organizations held an anti-CCP protest on Oct. 1, 2022. NTDTV/Melodie Von

Similar protests against the CCP’s authoritarian rule also took place around the world on Oct. 1, including in the United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as in major cities in multiple European countries. In Manchester, northwestern England, an estimated 1,200 people took to the streets to protest the regime.