Beijing’s Interference Largely Overlooked in Election Campaign, Inviting Further Infiltration, Analysts Warn

A sign directing voters to a polling station is taped to the sidewalk during the 2019 federal election, in Ottawa, on Oct. 21, 2019. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

News Analysis

Around two years ago, a surge of intelligence leaks about China’s interference in Canada’s elections forced the hand of the government to hold an inquiry into foreign meddling. Now, national security experts and China watchers are concerned that Beijing is getting a pass in the current election campaign, and some even fear that Beijing’s intimidation tactics have worked to silence criticism lest parties lose votes.

“Even after so many reports, investigations, and even a public inquiry confirming Beijing’s interference in our elections and institutions—China is barely part of the national conversation during this campaign,” Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian democracy activist, said in an interview.

Scott McGregor, a former Canadian Armed Forces intelligence operator and intelligence adviser to the RCMP, says some politicians are avoiding the China issue when addressing national security out of “electoral calculus.”

“To do so risks alienating influential diaspora networks—many of which, as documented, have been co-opted or created by the CCP’s United Front,” McGregor told The Epoch Times. The United Front Work Department is an organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responsible for interference and influence activities abroad.

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, says given that there’s been a lot more discussion on interference issues since the last election, when it comes to parties hesitating to take action as incidents occur, it can be considered “intentional,” and can no longer be brushed off as a lack of awareness.

He says the fact that it took days for the Liberal Party to drop a candidate who said his Conservative rival, a Hong Kong democracy activist, be handed over to Chinese Consulate officials for a bounty is an example of this.

“We are now opening the door officially, so it is more dangerous [than before],” he said in an interview.

Past Elections

During the 2021 election campaign, then-Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole devoted an extensive section of his platform to how to tackle the Chinese regime’s aggressions and address its interference activities in Canada.

This was amid Beijing’s escalated hostilities against Canada in the aftermath of the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request, including the detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by China.

A man holds a sign with photographs of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December 2018, as people gather for a rally in Vancouver in support of Hong Kong democracy on Aug. 16, 2020. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The degree of concern about China’s interference activities at the time reached such an extent that when the Liberals attempted their previous messaging that the Conservatives were engaging in “anti-Asian racism” when they criticized the government’s China policy, diaspora groups spoke out in large numbers, and the Liberals ceased using those talking points in the House of Commons.

Public opinion polls at the time showed that the majority of the Canadian public wanted the government to be “more forceful” in its relations with China, with a Nanos poll showing Canadians were “10 times more likely than less likely to vote for a federal party if it had a stronger stance against China (45 percent more likely, 4 percent less likely).”

Less than a month after the 2021 election that saw the Liberals holding on to their minority government, a group named the Chinese Canadian Conservative Association (not officially part of the Conservative Party) held an event where organizers said O’Toole was spreading a “hatred message on China,” and that his position on China had lost the party seats in the community.

At the time, Conservative Party members belonging to Toronto’s Chinese community who spoke with The Epoch Times expressed alarm that the group’s messaging echoed Beijing’s propaganda.

During that election campaign, then-incumbent Conservative MP Kenny Chiu was the subject of a coordinated misinformation campaign—as later revealed by intelligence officials—in the B.C. riding of Steveston-Richmond East, which has a large Chinese community. Prior to the election, Chiu had tabled legislation to bring in a foreign agent registry similar to those in the United States and Australia, in a bid to protect the diaspora community and Canada’s institutions from interference by foreign powers. However, well-publicized media and social media posts within the Chinese community portrayed him as being anti-Chinese. Chiu lost that election to his Liberal rival.

His case was one of the several instances of Chinese interference studied by the 2023–2025 Foreign Interference Commission, which found that China is the most active foreign power interfering in Canada.

Another case probed by the commission was that of incumbent NDP MP Jenny Kwan, an active critic of China’s rights abuses. Kwan, who represents Vancouver East, told the inquiry that she was shunned from events in the Chinese community during the 2019 and 2021 elections, and that her staff were told that it was the Chinese Consulate who instructed the business community to stay away from her. Kwan was also informed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that she is an “evergreen” target of the CCP due to her human rights activities.

Intelligence Leaks

In late 2022, a surge of intelligence leaks began appearing in the media about Beijing’s extensive election interference activities.

These included the Chinese Consulate arranging for a wealthy businessman to donate to the Trudeau Foundation after Justin Trudeau became Liberal leader in 2013; Beijing funding nearly a dozen candidates from both the Liberal and Conservative parties in the 2019 federal election; coercion of Chinese international students in Toronto by the Chinese Consulate to vote for the nomination of then-Liberal candidate Han Dong ahead of the 2019 election; Chinese officials stating that their preferred outcome for the 2021 election was a Liberal minority government; Chinese consulates leveraging members and organizations within the Chinese community to advocate on behalf of Beijing; and Beijing’s use of blackmail and bribery to influence politicians.

Pressure from opposition parties eventually resulted in the government commissioning a public inquiry into foreign interference starting in 2023, and tabling and passing legislation last year to tackle the problem. The legislation established a foreign agent registry and allows CSIS to brief other orders of government or entities besides the federal government when they’re at risk of foreign interference, among other measures.

Many of the issues leaked in the media were examined by the inquiry, and more revelations came out around that time, or just ahead of the inquiry.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa in a file photo. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

This included the revelation that the family of incumbent Conservative MP Michael Chong in Hong Kong had been targeted by the CCP due to Chong’s critical stance on Beijing’s rights abuses. A Chinese diplomat in Canada was subsequently declared persona non grata in May 2023.

The inquiry also documented how O’Toole and his Conservative Party had been targeted by Beijing’s misinformation due to his critical position on China’s aggressions.

In panel discussions after he was no longer Conservative leader, O’Toole said he didn’t want to focus much on the role Chinese interference had in his party’s 2021 election loss due to concerns of being associated with the U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters’ “stop the steal” messaging in the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. election. But he later told the Foreign Interference Commission that he thought Chinese interference played a role in his ouster as party leader in 2022.

Nonetheless, acknowledging the public position of the Conservatives that the interference didn’t cost them the election, Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue concluded that Chinese interference didn’t change the overall outcome of the 2019 and 2021 elections, saying that, “Voters were able to cast their ballots, their votes were duly registered and counted and there is nothing to suggest that there was any interference whatsoever in this regard.”

Hogue added that it is “possible that results in a small number of ridings were affected, but this cannot be said with certainty.”

2025 Election

In the current election cycle, the dominant foreign policy topic has been the Trump presidency and his tariffs.

However, China hasn’t ceased its aggressive behaviour toward Canada, including imposing tariffs on Canadian food and agricultural products in March. This came after Canada placed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as well as steel and aluminum in lockstep with the United States last year. The timing of China’s tariffs—coming at a time when Washington is warning countries against siding with China in the tariffs war, and China’s recent open request to Australia to “join hands” on a U.S. tariff response, which Canberra rejected—may be a warning to Canada to not side with the United States in the geopolitical battle.

And as issues related to Chinese interference have come up, diaspora groups have said the political response in Canada has left much to be desired.

“Back in 2021, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole devoted a significant part of his platform to addressing the China threat—and rightfully so,” Sheng says.

“National security should be front and centre. If we allow the CCP to continue infiltrating Canadian society, influencing our institutions, buying political candidates, and reshaping our values from within, then how can we possibly talk about Canada becoming a strong nation?”

An unnamed Chinese hacker uses a computer at an office in Dongguan, in China's southern Guangdong Province, on Aug. 4, 2020. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images

During the Liberal leadership race, as the federal watchdog Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) said the campaign of former Liberal cabinet minister and leadership contender Chrystia Freeland was being targeted by a “malicious” disinformation attack by China, Carney’s statement on the issue made no mention of China nor condemned the act, only stating that he is “fully committed to defending the integrity of this race and stand firm against any attempts to undermine our democracy.”

More recently, when SITE said on April 7 that Beijing has been running an information operation to influence Chinese Canadians on Carney during the election campaign, Carney again didn’t make any reference to China in his response to the issue, saying only that as prime minister he had taken steps to review measures to protect the integrity of the election.

Carney did however make reference to China on the campaign trail on March 26 when talking about the need to diversify trade, saying that while Canada should develop deeper relationships with partners in Asia, it should do so with those who share Canada’s values, which he said doesn’t include China.

What has added to China watchers’ concerns is the Liberals’ response when concerns arise about their candidates’ ties with the CCP.

“At the time of this national conversation about foreign interference, we are supposed to be more vigilant. They are supposed to be exercising due diligence in the nomination process. But they [are acting to the] contrary,” Tohti says.

Tohti and others take issue with Carney not ousting incumbent Liberal MP Paul Chiang from the party after news emerged that he had suggested in January that his then-rival Conservative candidate Joe Tay be turned over to the Chinese Consulate for a bounty. Tay is one of several Hong Kong democracy activists on whom Chinese officials have placed a bounty for information leading to their arrests.

After Chiang’s comments about Tay surfaced in late March, Carney said Chiang had a “terrible lapse in judgment,” but that he had apologized and that he “has my confidence.” Chiang eventually resigned from his candidacy on March 31, the same day the RCMP said it is looking into his comments.

But diaspora and civil society groups are now alarmed by the candidate the Liberals have replaced Chiang with for Ontario’s Markham-Unionville riding, Peter Yuen, who has been associated with groups with ties to the United Front and attended a CCP parade in Beijing that was also attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2015.

Yuen hasn’t responded to an Epoch Times request for comment. Carney has said he is “proud” to have Yuen as a candidate, saying the former deputy police chief of the Toronto police “has served his community for decades.”

Yuen told The Globe and Mail that he has “a track record of maintaining the health, safety and well-being of those in our community,” but didn’t respond to questions about whether he supports Taiwan self-determination or if he is against China’s persecution of Uyghurs and the activities of the United Front organization.

“I’m genuinely concerned that there are still candidates in this election who have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party or to pro-Beijing groups. This isn’t paranoia—it’s rooted in decades of facts,” Sheng said.

The Conservative Party has been considerably more outspoken on China’s interference attempts, especially as the issue relates to the Liberal government’s policies. However, Sheng notes that some Conservative candidates are also reluctant to talk about it for fear of being targeted by the Chinese regime.

She says this is because “most immigrants from mainland China have weak points in the hands of the CCP” and can be “easily coerced by Beijing,” which factors into the talking points of politicians in constituencies that have a large proportion of Chinese Canadians.

In the case of former Conservative candidate Chiu, this time around, as he was running for the nomination in his old riding ahead of the 2025 election campaign, he even faced accusations of racism for his stance against the CCP from one of his Tory rivals.

Former Conservative MP Wai Young, who was seeking the Conservative nomination in the same riding as Chiu, accused him of being “divisive” and making comments that led to “Asian hate and racism.” Nonetheless, Chiu has continued speaking out about the CCP’s interference against the diaspora community and Canada’s institutions.

Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on April 3, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Concern at All Levels

Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, says in areas that have a large Chinese community, such as Richmond in B.C. and Markham and Don Valley North in the Toronto area, Beijing uses social media apps like WeChat and the Chinese-language press to influence the election decisions of Chinese Canadians.

“This foreign interference has been going on for many, many years, and in many levels of our society, including all levels of government, up to even the school board level, in academia, in industry, and especially in commercial businesses,” he said in an interview.

“This is the kind of soft power approach by China to obtain support from many of these overseas Chinese people.”

McGregor says Beijing, through its United Front organization, has developed a systematic strategy to interfere in Canadian affairs while redirecting public discourse away from issues that challenge Beijing’s interests.

“Chinese infiltration into Canada operates through subtle, non-kinetic methods that exert disproportionate influence over outcomes in the political arena,” he says.

McGregor says the reluctance in this election campaign to address the China question “head-on” is a national security liability.

“The longer this continues, the more entrenched and normalized CCP influence will become,” he says.

Carolina Avendano and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.