China on Tuesday expelled a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai in a tit-for-tat after Ottawa told a Toronto-based Chinese diplomat to leave the country, escalating already tense bilateral relations amid concerns about Chinese influence in Canada.
Canada on Monday expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. "We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday.
In response to Canada's "unreasonable actions", China told Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, to leave China by May 13, according to the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement. China reserves the right to respond further, the foreign ministry added.
Diplomatic tensions have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges. All three were freed in 2021.
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.
Details of the CSIS report came to light on May 1, when Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported China sought information about Chong and his family in China in a likely effort to "make an example" of him and deter others from taking anti-Chinese government position. "It shouldn't have taken two years for the government to make this decision," Chong told reporters after the announcement.
China has said 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, 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 Uyghur 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 criticized 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 has previously said China attempted to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 votes, but that the efforts did not change the outcome. He has appointed an independent special investigator to probe the allegations.
中國驅逐加拿大外交官導致雙邊關係惡化
在渥太華要求一名駐多倫多的中國外交官離開中國後，中國周二針鋒相對地驅逐了一名駐上海的加拿大外交官，由於擔心中國在加拿大的影響力，本已緊張的雙邊關係進一步升級。
加拿大周一驅逐了中國外交官趙偉，此前一份情報報告指控他試圖針對一名批評中國對待其維吾爾族穆斯林少數民族的加拿大議員。 “我們不會容忍任何形式的外國干涉，”加拿大外交部長梅蘭妮喬利週一表示。
中國外交部在一份聲明中稱，為回應加拿大的“無理行為”，中國要求加拿大駐上海領事館領事詹妮弗·林恩·拉隆德在 5 月 13 日之前離開中國。外交部補充說，中國保留進一步回應的權利。
自 2018 年華為技術公司高管孟晚舟被拘留以及北京隨後以間諜罪名逮捕兩名加拿大人以來，外交緊張局勢一直在加劇。三人均於 2021 年獲釋。
間諜機構加拿大安全情報局 (CSIS) 於 2021 年撰寫了一份關於中國在加拿大的影響力的報告，其中包括有關保守黨議員邁克爾·莊及其家人的潛在威脅的信息。
CSIS 報告的細節於 5 月 1 日曝光，當時加拿大《環球郵報》報導說，中國尋求有關 Chong 及其在中國的家人的信息，可能是為了給他“樹立榜樣”，並阻止其他人接受反華政府位置。 “政府做出這個決定不應該花兩年的時間，”Chong 在宣布後告訴記者。
中國表示，它從未乾涉過加拿大的內政，也沒有興趣這樣做。中國駐多倫多總領事館表示，有關衝的報導“沒有事實依據，純屬無稽之談”。
《環球報》援引一位不願透露姓名的國家安全消息人士的話稱，趙參與收集了有關 Chong 的信息，Chong 在 2021 年發起了一項成功的動議，宣布中國對待其維吾爾族穆斯林少數民族的種族滅絕。
Chong 說，他從一家報紙上得知他在香港的家人可能受到威脅，他“深感失望”，並批評特魯多政府的不作為。自《環球報》報導以來，他多次呼籲將趙開除。
特魯多說，他從報紙上得知了這份情報報告，並在周三指責情報機構當時沒有將其傳遞給他。該機構現在已被指示立即傳遞有關對議會成員及其家人的威脅的信息。
特魯多此前曾表示，中國試圖干預 2019 年和 2021 年的投票，但這些努力並未改變結果。他已任命一名獨立特別調查員調查這些指控。
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