Canada–China Ties Moving From Elite Control to ‘State Capture,’ Former Canadian Diplomat Warns

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa in a file photo. The Epoch Times

China’s influence on Canada is evolving from influencing political and economic elites to a more dangerous form of “state capture,” says a former diplomat posted to Canada’s embassy in China.

Charles Burton, a sinologist who is now a senior fellow at the think tank Sinopsis, made the remark during a Sept. 26 event in Ottawa for the launch of investigative journalist Sam Cooper’s third edition of “Wilful Blindness,” a book that examines China’s influence in Canada.

“Sam concludes in the book that the current state of Canada–China relations is not only informed by comprehensive elite capture, but is also moving incrementally towards full state capture,” Burton said at the event.

Full state capture “threatens the integrity of our democratic institutions and undermines the values of openness and honesty and the freedoms of citizenship that define Canada as a great nation,” Burton said.

He highlighted the role of China’s United Front Work Department, which is “running a myriad of influence operations here in Canada” aimed at undermining the country’s democratic foundations. According to research cited by Public Safety Canada, the United Front organization is China’s primary foreign interference tool.

“Canadians need to learn about the United Front Work Department and take this threat from China much more seriously,” Burton said.

“We need to cease tolerating the self-interested, willful blindness of our political and economic elite and replace it with renewed Canadian patriotic, willful awareness.”

Charles Burton, former Canadian diplomat posted to China, speaks during a Sept. 26, 2024, event in Ottawa for the launch of investigative journalist Sam Cooper’s third edition of “Wilful Blindness,” a book that examines China’s influence in Canada. Annie Wu/NTD

(L to R) Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former senior intelligence officer at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; investigative journalist Sam Cooper; and Dean Baxendale, CEO of Optimum Publishing International. The three attended a Sept. 26, 2024, event in Ottawa for the launch of Cooper’s third edition of "Willful Blindness," a book examining China’s influence in Canada. Annie Wu/NTD

Growing Threats

First published in 2021, Cooper’s book explores the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and organized crime, detailing their involvement in the illicit drug trade and money laundering through casinos and Vancouver’s real estate market.

In the 2022 update to his book, Cooper examined intelligence on the United Front’s election interference networks. He delved into a disinformation campaign on the Chinese platform WeChat, which targeted former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu during the 2021 election for his criticism of Beijing’s human rights record and his promotion of a foreign interference registry.

Cooper expressed “extreme concern” about the CCP’s increasing aggressiveness in its influence tactics, a topic discussed in the most recent edition of his book.

“I’m learning new information that [is] of extreme concern: these very same election interference and Chinese Communist Party police station networks—which I’m saying involve organized crime leaders and Chinese secret security services—are not only threatening, especially diaspora residences, [but] they’re also harassing, surveilling, and potentially violently attacking,” Cooper told The Epoch Times.

“We now have cases in Australia, potentially Canada [and] around the world, where it’s suspected that Chinese operators in these networks could endanger, perhaps even threaten with death, or perhaps even kill dissidents who want to speak out against China.”

In response to extensive media reports about Beijing’s secret operations, Ottawa launched the Foreign Interference Inquiry to investigate Chinese interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue acknowledged this influence in her interim report published in May.

Before Parliament’s summer break, a bill aimed at increasing resilience against foreign interference quickly passed into law. Bill C-70 creates a foreign influence transparency registry and increases criminal penalties for foreign meddling.

When asked about the security measures in place for next year’s upcoming election, Cooper said the new law is “a good step,” but he expressed doubts about its effectiveness.

“I still don’t think the new law in place has the power to really prosecute people involved as foreign agents in attacking Canada’s elections and attacking Canadian citizens. So I’m just not confident that by the next election, we will have enough protections in place,” he said.

End of Beijing’s ‘Golden Era’ of Influence

Other speakers at the Sept. 26 event highlighted that there is now a growing sense of awareness of China’s malign activities among the public and officials.

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of the Asia-Pacific unit at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, pointed to a recent outreach campaign by RCMP in Montreal to the Chinese diaspora community. In July, RCMP in Quebec launched an online campaign seeking tips on CCP-linked foreign interference activities. Officers also conducted door-to-door visits in Montreal’s Chinatown and nearby Brossard to raise awareness about the threat.

“The RCMP in Montreal have been very successful in reaching out to the Chinese community,” Juneau-Katsuya told The Epoch Times. “I’m a little bit concerned and puzzled why other departments, other RCMP units, across Canada are not doing the same thing, if anything at all, in Vancouver, Calgary, and other cities like Toronto. We should have this outreach program like Montreal has done.”

Independent MP Kevin Vuong speaks during a Sept. 26, 2024, event in Ottawa for the launch of investigative journalist Sam Cooper’s third edition of “Wilful Blindness,” a book that examines China’s influence in Canada. Donna Ho/The Epoch Times

Independent MP Kevin Vuong applauded the efforts of allies in combating CCP interference, particularly the recent arrest and charging of Linda Sun, former deputy chief of staff to the governor of New York. Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, were accused of spying for Beijing and working to undermine U.S. democratic processes.

“I think the CCP’s golden era of being able to interfere in Canada at the extent, the depth, and the breadth that they have been, is probably starting to end now that Canadians have woken up to how extensive they’ve been,” he told The Epoch Times at the Sept. 26 event.

Donne Ho contributed to this report.