TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A report from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) says that China’s United Front operatives actively interfered in Vancouver’s municipal election in 2022 under the direction of the consul-general, with the purpose of electing politicians that would advance the interests of Beijing.
The CSIS report was made in January 2022, but only recently became available to Canadian media. The Globe and Mail viewed the document and broke the story on Thursday (March 16).
The CSIS report outlines how China’s former consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling (佟曉玲), sought to use resources available to her, including operatives in the Chinese-Canadian community aligned with the United Front, to promote and “groom” local politicians that would serve the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.
On March 6, Justin Trudeau announced that an independent special investigation would be called to examine Chinese interference in Canadian elections. The news from Vancouver has prompted calls for Ottawa to expand the scope of the nationwide probe, which will be conducted by David Johnston, a former governor-general of Canada, who was named special investigator.
The January 2022 report by the CSIS is not the first time that the Canadian intelligence service reported subversive actions related to election interference by Tong. In 2021, Tong reportedly boasted about employing an election strategy that led to the defeat of two Conservative MPs that represented British Columbia.
The January 2022 report is said to confirm China’s efforts to influence the outcome of local municipal elections that were held in October 2022. In one race, incumbent mayor Kennedy Stewart lost to Ken Sim by a margin of around 37,000 votes.
In the last year of his term, Kennedy was critical of China, and was in favor of strengthening ties with Taiwan. The United Front reportedly used its media assets in Canada to assert that he was a “cold war mayor” and trying to spread “conspiracy theories to divide the Chinese community.”
The CSIS report alleges that Tong actively campaigned behind the scenes to influence the Chinese-Canadian community in British Columbia. That community accounts for about one-fifth of the voting electorate in metro Vancouver, per the Globe and Mail.
In the same municipal election, Tong reportedly identified a candidate that she was hopeful would prove to be a long-term asset for Chinese interests in Canadian politics. The CSIS report said that “Tong saw great promise” in a politician running for city council.
She sought to become acquainted with them to see if they would prove to be a “good sapling to cultivate.” The Chinese consul-general discussed plans for the individual, who she hoped might go on to serve in provincial or federal politics, and serve the long-term interests of China in Canadian politics.
Although the CSIS report does not explicitly name the politician, the Globe and Mail report infers that it was Lenny Zhou, who won election to the Vancouver City Council in the 2022 municipal elections.