A group of organizations known for taking pro-Beijing positions commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Korean War by openly praising the Chinese Communist Party for fighting against Canada and its Western allies.
The Globe and Mail reports that an article posted on the Come From China News WeChat account quoted at least five Chinese-Canadian associations praising the CCP’s victory in the Korean War, or what the Chinese dubbed the “War to Resist the U.S. and to Aid Korea.”
The Epoch Times found that the original post on WeChat has been deleted, but part of the article can still be found on the Come From China News forum.
“Seventy years ago, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the Korean people fought together to resist the invasion, took the initiative to attack and achieved victory! Let us remember this great victory,” wrote Tracy Law, the president of Guangdong Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Canada and president of Guangzhou Fellow-students Association of Canada.
Law’s organizations are members of over 130 Chinese-Canadian groups that fall under the umbrella of the bigger Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA). According to Sing Tao Daily, CACA is affiliated with the CCP’s United Front Work Department, which is in charge of intelligence and influence operations inside and outside China. Law has been the honorary chair of CACA since 2018.
In the same WeChat post, Lu Hongmin, executive director of the Federation of Ottawa Chinese-Canadian Community Organizations, quoted CCP leader Xi Jinping’s public address on the Korean War commemorative conference. Xi said the United States intervened in the civil war on the Korean peninsula in the 1950s out of a “Cold War mentality,” and he praised the CCP for supporting Pyongyang in the battle against the U.S.-led allies, which includes Canadian forces.
“American aircraft invaded North Korea, repeatedly bombed the northeast border area of China, causing serious losses to peoples’ lives and property, and our country’s [China’s] security was facing a serious threat,” Lu wrote, reprising Xi’s comments.
Xi referred to the United States and the allies as “imperialist invaders” and “Western aggressors.” South Korea’s foreign minister later accused Xi of distorting history in his speech.
Canadian Senator Yonah Martin, who was born in South Korea, told the Globe that she found the statements lauding China’s role in the Korean War to be shocking.
“These quotes are part of a campaign which is taking part in China,” Martin said.
The Federation of Ottawa Chinese-Canadian Organizations (FOCCO) is also a large umbrella Chinese organization based in Ottawa. It represents 40 groups from a wide spectrum of academic, social, and cultural organizations across the city. The organization says it aims to “promote the development of the Chinese community, to encourage multicultural diversity, and to facilitate the communications between the Chinese.”
FOCCO has a record of close ties with the Chinese regime. The minister-counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Han Tao, participated in an event hosted by FOCCO celebrating the Chinese mid-autumn festival in 2015.
“We looked into the Federation of Ottawa Chinese-Canadian Community Organizations, and it was a giant problematic rabbit hole,” Jody Chan, the director of advocacy and governmental affairs at Alliance Canada Hong Kong, said on Twitter.
“Who are these Chinese community organizers with deep pockets that we don’t know? Who are they representing? Why are they being consulted by politicians?”
More than 26,000 Canadians in the army, navy and air force took part in the effort to defend South Korea from the Communist Bloc expansion during the Cold War. The war claimed the lives of 516 Canadians.
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