Over a quarter of Chinese diplomats at a Toronto consulate have left Canada since the 2021 general election, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Updated figures on August 8 with respect to accredited staff indicate just 28 Chinese diplomats remain compared to the 38 during the last election. No reason was given for the 26 percent reduction in the report “Diplomatic, Consular And Other Representatives In Canada,” which was first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
According to the news outlet, the number of China envoys in Toronto remains unusually high. The 28 accredited Chinese diplomats compares to 20 staff at the U.S. Consulate, 12 Indians, 10 Germans, 10 South Koreans, nine Japanese diplomats, eight Brazilians, seven Israelis, six Italians, four Mexicans, three Ukrainians, and two British envoys assigned to Toronto.
Canadian MPs have been cautioned that Beijing assigned a suspiciously high number of diplomats to Canada. “It does make me wonder,” Charles Burton, a former Canadian envoy to China and a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, testified on February 7 at the House affairs committee.
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The news comes amid concern over Chinese foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.The federal government also refused to accredit another Beijing envoy. “There was a visa that was not granted,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly testified on March 9 at the House Affairs committee.
“When China wanted to send a political operative last fall we decided to deny a visa which obviously is the right thing to do,” said Ms. Joly. “These are the different actions that we have put into place.”
“Let me tell you, if we have any form of clear evidence of any wrongdoing we will send diplomats packing very, very, very quickly. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” she added.
