CCP Overwhelms Western Intelligence Agencies With Its ‘Mass Collection’ Approach: Former CSIS Manager

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of the Asia-Pacific unit at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 2, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

The Chinese communist regime employs a “mass collection” approach to subvert its target countries, sending numerous operatives abroad to gradually infiltrate different facets of society, says a former senior manager with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

In an interview with The Epoch Times “American Thought Leaders” program, Michel Juneau-Katsuya spoke about the interference tactics used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that he has observed over the past several decades. They involve collaborating with gang members and tycoons who have immigrated to Canada and made investments here, he said.

“They simply overwhelm us in so many different fields, that it’s difficult for Western agencies to understand,” said Mr. Juneau-Katsuya, who formerly headed the Asia-Pacific unit at CSIS.

He says the CCP also uses dormant spies, or what he calls “bottom fish feeders”—people sent from China to live or work in the West. For the first years “they will do nothing, absolutely nothing,” he said. “They must be perfect citizens for 5 years to 10 years. Then one day they receive a phone call [from the Chinese authorities] and boom, they are activated.”

Owing to their clean records, these individuals are able to obtain security clearances and make their way up the ranks in private companies or government entities, Mr. Juneau-Katsuya explained. This approach potentially allows them access to sensitive information, a situation that poses a significant challenge to Western agencies trying to comprehend the depth of their commitment and the extensive duration of their double-agent roles.

United Front

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya said the United Front Work Department, which he describes as one of China’s top five intelligence organizations, has been continuously sending agents to infiltrate academic and political circles as well as local communities globally in order to foster connections, “all in the name of friendship” and under the guise of collaboration and exchange.

“But at the end of the day, it’s a Trojan horse. It’s a Trojan horse that basically has another purpose. That purpose might not be revealed to you immediately, but eventually will definitely be applied,” he said.

Project Sidewinder

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya was one of the officers who worked on Project Sidewinder in the 1990s, which looked into the extent of CCP’s infiltration in Canada.

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The project involved a joint CSIS-RCMP task force that investigated the collaboration between Chinese intelligence, wealthy Chinese tycoons, and criminal triad gangs in infiltrating Canada to influence business and politics.

The project began in the mid-1990s, during the period prior to Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty from British rule. Uncertainties surrounding the handover prompted a significant wave of immigration from Hong Kong to Canada at the time.

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya said the arrival of Hong Kongers to Canada was facilitated by new immigration categories created by the previous prime minister, Brian Mulroney. For example, an entrepreneur could come to Canada by paying $250,000 and “basically [be] able to buy your Canadian citizenship, with the agreement that you were going to open a business.”

He noted, however, that the policy also opened doors for triad members to enter Canada. “A lot of triads started to come in,” he said, and concern about this was what prompted the Sidewinder investigation.

Also starting to appear at the time were rich Hong Kongers “who would literally invest a lot of money in Canada to buy businesses and buy influence,” he said.

“We started to see a link between the Chinese intelligence service, the rich tycoons coming from Hong Kong, and the triads, and a collaboration between these three elements, which eventually were called the ‘unholy trinity.’”

The project reported that “certain powerful companies and the Chinese intelligence agents embedded in our government were able to influence high-level decision-making,” he said, noting that these decisions would not help Canada’s economy or national security but would actually benefit Beijing.

Another element was infiltration by “agents of influence” who are not necessarily spies but “people who have been recruited and are able to influence the powers that be.”

Those findings were “alarming to us,” Mr. Juneau-Katsuya said, but he said the Sidewinder report was met with much skepticism and resistance by Canadian authorities who ordered the project team to destroy the report and their research notes.

This revealed the extent of infiltration, he said, as Canada “has been infiltrated for the last 30 years or more.”

“Unfortunately, every prime minister has been compromised,” he said. “Not only prime ministers, but every single political level in Canada, from municipal to provincial to federal levels. They’ve been capable of working in a very holistic way.”

A balloon is seen at a press conference and rally highlighting Beijing's transnational repression, in front of the America ChangLe Association in New York City on Feb. 25, 2023. A now-closed overseas Chinese police station is located inside the association building. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Project Sidewinder has regained attention recently, as media reports citing leaked CSIS documents exposed the Chinese regime’s interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The regime’s other covert activities on Canadian soil that have also grabbed headlines over the past year include its secret police stations in various provinces and the deployment of surveillance balloons over North America.

Pushing Back

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya highlighted some needed strategies for countering the CCP threat.

He raised the idea of creating an independent investigative body that has law-enforcement powers and can file accusations in court if needed, like the anti-corruption police organization that he said existed at one point in Hong Kong.

He also emphasized the urgency for Canada to adopt legislation to define foreign interference and establish penalties to address these situations. Related to such a law is creation of a foreign influence transparency registry, which various groups have advocated for in response to revelations of Beijing’s interference in Canada.

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya said that although a foreign agents registry would have limitations similar to those of a registry for lobbyists, where “lobbyists will continue to what they do and pull strings in the backroom,” it would nevertheless equip law enforcement with the necessary legal tools to adequately conduct investigations.

Additionally, he noted the need for Canada to collaborate with like-minded allies. He referred to the support that Canadian diplomats in China received from their counterparts in other countries when Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were put on trial in 2021.

The two were arbitrarily arrested in December 2018 and detained by Chinese authorities for over 1,000 days, in a move widely regarded as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request involving fraud charges.

Foreign diplomats gather near a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province on March 19, 2021. China was expected to open the first trial that day for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. (Ken Moritsugu/AP Photo)

Mr. Juneau-Katsuya said that “something really surprised and touched me” at the time of the trial of the two Canadians.

“Canadian diplomats were not allowed to enter the courtroom when the trial took place. They were not able to either represent or assist the two Michaels,” he said, but as they stood outside the courthouse in silence, “they were joined by other Western diplomats that stood alongside [them] in silent protest.”

“That was a very moving image. If we could transpose that kind of collaboration with the nations and have the Western nations rally together, that would force the current Chinese government to change their attitude.”