NDP MP Kwan Says Chinese Consulate Issued ‘Edict’ for Business Community to Cut Ties With Her

NDP MP Jenny Kwan appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on Sept. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

NDP MP Jenny Kwan told the Foreign Interference Commission that the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver directed the business community to cease engagement with her.

The reported directive from the consulate was brought to Kwan’s attention after a recent community event.

“This individual had a lengthy conversation with my staff, and it was communicated to him that in the business community, they’ve been advised that they should stop the engagement with me,” Kwan testified on Sept. 18. She said her office tried to clarify when the Chinese Consulate gave the directive, but no specific date was provided.

Last year, Kwan was briefed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which warned her that she is an “evergreen” target of the Chinese Communist Party due to her advocacy for the democracy movement and human rights in China.

Kwan, the MP for Vancouver East since 2015, told the commission she noticed a “seismic shift” in attitudes toward her within the Chinese diaspora community in 2019, with a significant drop in invitations to community events.

The change came shortly after she attended a rally outside the Chinese Consulate, where she criticized the regime’s passage in June of that year of a national security law which was condemned by Canada and other democracies for its draconian measures against democratic rights.

At that point, “invitations for me to attend community events ... began to decrease, and in fact, over the years, quite drastically. At the time, I didn’t quite notice it, but now, in light of issues and concerns around foreign interference activities, I’m noting as well that donations have also shifted,” Kwan said.

‘Conundrum’ of Invitations

Kwan discussed the dilemma she faces in deciding whether to attend events organized by some Chinese Canadian groups, especially those  affiliated with China’s United Front organization amid growing concerns about Beijing’s interference in Canada.

The United Front is described by Public Safety Canada as China’s “primary foreign interference tool.”

Kwan said that while some organizations do valuable community work and attending their events offers outreach opportunities, she worries that participating in United Front-affiliated ones might “validate them,” allowing her to be seen as a “semi-witting participant” in foreign interference.

“It is a huge conundrum for me,” she said, adding that the government could assist parliamentarians by providing clarity and guidelines on how to navigate such situations.

NSICOP Report

The Foreign Interference Commission is currently holding hearings on the Chinese regime’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Among the intelligence the commission is reviewing is a June report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), which said some parliamentarians may have been “wittingly assisting” foreign states in undermining Canadian democratic processes.

Kwan testified on Sept. 18 that she had asked her party leader, Jagmeet Singh, to request top-secret security clearance from the federal government to review the classified version of the NSICOP report. She was turned down and told that even with top-secret clearance she would be denied access without a “need to know,” Kwan told the commission.

Asked at the inquiry why she wanted to see the report, Kwan said the reported security issue “breaches our privilege as parliamentarians” who “have the right to protection and to be warned of foreign interference activities if we are unaware of them.”