Mr. Dong was featured in a photograph during a 2015 visit to China where he was seen wearing the scarf alongside children at a Shanghai public school.
During a 2015 visit to China, MP Han Dong was photographed wearing a red scarf, which is a symbol of the Young Pioneers, a youth organization under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The
photo,
released by the Chinese Consulate in Toronto, also featured former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. Both were photographed wearing the scarves alongside children at a Shanghai
public school as part of an Ontario business delegation. At the time, Mr. Dong was a member of provincial parliament in Ms. Wynne’s Liberal government.
Due to widely publicized
allegations of improper ties to Beijing, Mr. Dong
resigned from the federal Liberal caucus in March to sit as an Independent. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing.
The Young Pioneers is for children aged 6 to 14, after which members may go on to join the Communist Youth League and later the CCP itself.
According to its
charter, the Young Pioneers’ goal is to unite and educate children and youth and guide them to “listen to [obey] the Party, follow the Party,” to “love socialism, learn and practise core socialist values,” and ultimately “become successors dedicated to the cause of communism.”
Mr. Dong, born in Shanghai, reportedly moved to Toronto with his family at age 13. He did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times on whether he had joined the Young Pioneers as a child in China.
Allegations
Mr. Dong, who was
elected as a Liberal MP in 2019, has faced increasing allegations of inappropriate ties to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto in recent months.
He
resigned from the Liberal caucus March 22 to sit as an Independent MP following allegations made against him earlier that day in a
Global News article.
Citing two national security sources, the article said the MP had advised the Chinese consul general in Toronto in 2021 that Beijing should delay releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The two Canadians had by that time been
detained in China for over two years in a case widely seen as retaliation against Canada for
arresting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on U.S. extradition charges in December 2018.
Mr. Dong denied the allegations and in April launched a
$15 million defamation lawsuit against Global News and several journalists involved in the reporting.
The March article by Global followed a Feb. 24 article by the outlet making election-related allegations against Mr. Dong. The article cited national security officials identifying Mr. Dong as
one of at least 11 Toronto-area riding candidates in the 2019 election allegedly receiving funding from Beijing. Mr. Dong has also rejected this allegation.
The MP is set to participate in the feds’ public inquiry into foreign interference scheduled to begin hearings starting Jan. 29, 2024. The inquiry was launched in response to media reports alleging that China interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, head of the inquiry, has granted
full standing to Mr. Dong, giving him the right to question witnesses and access non-public information, saying he has “a direct and substantial interest” in the inquiry’s subject matter. Her decision has raised concerns among Beijing critics and some Chinese Canadians from groups being persecuted by the CCP.
Past Cases
Several Canadian politicians have come under scrutiny for donning CCP red scarves.
In October 2016, former Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido and former Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang were seen wearing red scarves at a celebration of the 67th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China’s founding,
CBC News reported. The event included raising the flag of communist China on the steps of Vancouver City Hall. Attendees featured the Chinese consul general in Vancouver and his deputy, reported local Chinese-language media outlet
Vanzsnews.
The UFWD is a primary body used to “stifle criticism, infiltrate foreign political parties, diaspora communities, universities and multinational corporations,” according to a
2021 Public Safety Canada document.
The Canadian politicians’ involvement at the event triggered outrage among members of Vancouver’s Chinese-Canadian community not supportive of the communist regime, CBC reported.
In an interview with CBC at the time, Mr. Peschisolido said the event organizer had conveyed to him that the red scarf symbolizes “5,000 years of Chinese culture and civilization.” He expressed regret for wearing it, stating, “I now know that, for many people, it’s a very painful signal or symbol based on what occurred—the tragic events that happened during the Cultural Revolution.”
During the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, the scarf became the symbol of the Red Guards, a student-led paramilitary group mobilized by former CCP leader Mao Zedong. The Red Guards replaced the Young Pioneers until the late 1970s when the group disbanded and the Young Pioneers was restored.
The Cultural Revolution, launched by Chairman Mao, aimed at eliminating traditional elements from Chinese society and establishing communist ideology and control. Estimates suggest that unnatural deaths in China during that period reached 7.73 million, according to the Epoch Times special series “
Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.”
Membership in the Young Pioneers may be mandatory or optional depending on local rules. As of 2022 year-end, the organization had roughly 114.67 million members in China, says a
June 2023 article by Beijing mouthpiece People’s Daily. In 2022, China had approximately 178.37 million children aged 5–14, according to
Statista.
The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Jang for comment but didn’t hear back. Efforts to contact Mr. Peschisolido were unsuccessful.
Kathy Han contributed to this report.
