Two Canadian Senators Link Up With CCP Agency, Meeting With Chair and Attending ‘High-Level Conference’

Sen. Victor Oh in a file photo. Becky Zhou/The Epoch Times

Two Canadian senators are boosting their ties with the Chinese communist regime through their engagement with a Chinese agency ostensibly dedicated to foreign aid while also promoting China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Sen. Victor Oh recently met with the head of the agency. Sen. Yuen Pau Woo delivered a speech at an agency “high-level conference” during which he criticized Canada for cozying up to Western allies against China.

Mr. Oh travelled to China in early September, where he met with Luo Zhaohui, chair of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), according to a CIDCA press release featuring Mr. Oh, his wife, and Mr. Luo.

At the Sept. 4 meeting, Mr. Luo commended Mr. Oh for his “consistent efforts in promoting Sino-Canadian friendship.” Mr. Luo, who served as Chinese ambassador to Canada from May 2014 to September 2016, also thanked Mr. Oh for his support during Mr. Luo’s tenure in Canada.

Mr. Oh did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times regarding his recent trip to China and meeting with Mr. Luo.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with then-Chinese Ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui in Ottawa on Jan. 27, 2016. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

CIDCA is an agency that operates under the direct supervision of China’s State Council. In a press release issued in 2018, the year CIDCA was established, the agency said its purpose was to manage, strengthen, and coordinate China’s foreign aid initiatives and support construction of the BRI.

The BRI is a project aimed at rebuilding and expanding China’s historical Silk Road trade routes, fostering connectivity between China, Asia, Europe, and other regions through significant investments in infrastructure. However, critics regard it as a tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to extend its global geopolitical and economic influence.

There are also warnings about the BRI being a form of China’s “debt trap” diplomacy. In addition, the U.S. State Department has issued warnings about the involvement of forced labour as a potential “hidden cost” associated with the development of the infrastructure scheme.

‘Nationalist Policies’

The other senator, Mr. Woo, delivered a speech virtually at a CIDCA “high-level conference” on July 10, where he expressed appreciation for China’s expanded involvement in global development. He also criticized certain “advanced” and “powerful” countries for adopting what he characterized as “nationalist policies that discriminate against large portions of the globe, especially developing countries.”

“A world that runs according to the rules of powerful countries is not a world that is based on the international rule of law. And it is even worse if different sets of powerful countries establish different sets of rules and practices for the partners they work with,” he said.

The Epoch Times sought clarification from Mr. Woo regarding the specific countries he was referring to.

In an email reply on Sept. 11, Mr. Woo said, “Many countries, including the U.S. and China, are preoccupied with national security and techno-nationalism, which poses a significant challenge to international cooperation.”

He did not respond as to whether Canada was among the advanced western countries that he categorized as having adopted “nationalist policies.”

In his speech Mr. Woo did not specifically identify any countries that he believed have adopted nationalist policies. However, several of the policies he criticized bear similarities to measures that Canada and its allies have implemented, such as technology or resource export bans, limitations on international research collaborations, and investment restrictions. They are considered essential strategies by Canada and the broader democratic world for protecting national security and addressing challenges posed by an increasingly assertive China.

Sen. Yuen Pau Woo in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Among the issues he discussed, Mr. Woo also criticized Western enterprises for their emphasis on “friend-shoring” and “de-risking” in supply chain reorganization, which he suggested were “largely for political reasons.” In contrast, he proposed that both Chinese and Western enterprises lend support to the relocation of manufacturing supply chains to less developed nations as a means to address poverty in those countries.

Decoupling

Mr. Woo’s comments came some six months after Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke in Washington, in December 2022, about the concept of “friend-shoring” as a strategy to divert trade away from adversarial countries like China and toward like-minded allies. A number of federal cabinet ministers and MPs have also publicly called for Canada to pursue a policy of decoupling from China.

This shift away from China encompasses more than just trade. It also involves obtaining essential natural resources, specifically critical minerals essential for producing green batteries used in electric vehicles.

Speaking on the issue of green development, Mr. Woo pointed out that many countries are struggling to fulfill their commitments, attributing this challenge to “international factors” such as the war in Ukraine, inflation, and lack of collaboration on green technologies like renewable energy.

In terms of export bans, the U.S. Department of Commerce last October imposed extensive export controls aimed at restricting Beijing from purchasing and manufacturing certain high-end chips used in artificial intelligence and supercomputers, including in military applications. The United States has banned imports from several Chinese tech corporations, such as Huawei and ZTE, due to security concerns; it has also warned of restrictions on software companies like TikTok.

Canada has mirrored these measures. Ottawa banned Huawei and ZTE from its 5G wireless infrastructure on security grounds in May 2022. In March this year, it also announced a ban of TikTok on federal government-issued devices, following similar measures adopted by some institutions within the European Union.

During his CIDCA speech, Mr. Woo acknowledged China’s challenges in private international debt restructuring, considering its limited experience in this field. He noted that China faces “a steep learning curve” when it comes to negotiating settlements with various creditors, including multilateral banks.

Mr. Woo, however, did not mention Ottawa’s decision on June 14 to cease all engagement with the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), of which Canada has been a member since 2017. This decision, announced roughly a month prior to the CIDCA conference, came the same day after Canadian citizen Bob Pickard resigned as AIIB’s director general of global communications.

Mr. Pickard alleged that the multilateral development bank, founded in 2016 to finance railways and other infrastructure, is “dominated” by the Chinese Communist Party. He also questioned whether Canada’s participation would serve its own national interests.

Human Rights

Both Mr. Oh and Mr. Woo have at times criticized Canada for taking a firm stance against the regime’s human rights record.

In April 2022, Mr. Woo faced criticism when he said Canada should refrain from criticizing China’s human rights violations against ethnic minorities, citing Canada’s historical mistreatment of indigenous peoples as a point of comparison.

Mr. Woo also faced criticism in 2021 after publishing a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, regarding the release of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. The two men were arbitrarily detained by Beijing in what was widely regarded as retaliation against Canada for arresting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request.

While Mr. Woo said it was a “happy day” for the two men and their families, he also encouraged Canadians to take the opportunity to “reflect on lessons learned.” He shared a tweet with a link to a Toronto Star op-ed citing former U.S. ambassador Chas Freeman, who accused the United States, along with Canada, of taking Ms. Meng hostage in the first place.

Foreign Agent Registry

In addition, Mr. Oh and Mr. Woo have both opposed the creation of a foreign agent registry in Canada, which aims to increase transparency surrounding the work of those lobbying on behalf of a foreign entity. Calls for establishing this agency soared over the past year amid reports, citing national security sources, accusing Beijing of engaging in interference activities in Canada.

The two senators have on multiple occasions argued that this agency would be “unfair” to Chinese Canadians, equating it with Canada’s long-abolished Chinese Immigration Act, which is also called the Chinese Exclusion Act because it resulted in stopping Chinese immigration.

Mr. Oh and Mr. Woo actively promoted and led a protest on Parliament Hill on June 24 that was advertised as commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act. However, prior to the demonstration, the two participated in a series of events within Chinese communities to promote the event along with a petition, e-4395, against the foreign registry. At a June 12 event in Montreal, Mr. Oh said the registry would become a modern version of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Kathy Han contributed to this report