OTTAWA: Canada expelled Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei on Monday after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China’s treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority.
“Canada has decided to declare persona non grata Mr Zhao Wei,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement. “The decision has been taken after careful consideration of all factors at play.”
The expulsion escalates already tense Sino-Canadian relations and is likely to prompt China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, to respond. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa had no immediate comment.
Spy agency Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) authored a report in 2021 about Chinese influence in Canada that included information about potential threats to Conservative member of parliament Michael Chong and his family.
China says it has never interfered in Canada’s internal affairs and has no interest in doing so. China’s Toronto consulate-general said the report on Chong has “no factual basis and is purely baseless”.
The Globe and Mail newspaper,, citing an unnamed national security source, said Zhao was involved in gathering information about Chong, who in 2021 sponsored a successful motion declaring China’s treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority genocide.
Chong said he was “profoundly disappointed” to find out about the potential threat to his family in Hong Kong from a newspaper, and criticised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for inaction.
He repeatedly called for Zhao’s expulsion since the Globe report.
Trudeau said he found out about the intelligence report from the newspaper, and on Wednesday blamed the spy agency for not passing it onto him at the time.
The agency has now been directed to immediately pass on information about threats to members of parliament and their families, Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Canadian media outlets have published several reports, citing anonymous intelligence sources, alleging schemes run by the Chinese government to interfere in Canada’s last two elections. Beijing has denied those allegations.
Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2023
