Chair of Toronto Chinese Associations Umbrella Group Met With Chinese Foreign Influence Agency Officials

Chair of Toronto Chinese Associations Umbrella Group Met With Chinese Foreign Influence Agency Officials
A guard tries to block photos being taken as he and a policeman patrol outside the Canadian Embassy in Beijing on Jan. 14, 2019. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
Andrew Chen
Updated:

An executive of a Toronto group known for being aligned with Beijing met in China with representatives of the Chinese regime agency in charge of advancing the regime’s influence operations abroad.

Han Jialiang, as executive chairman of the Council of Newcomer Organizations (CONCO)—also known as the Federation of Canadian Chinese Associations—holds a key leadership position within the umbrella group of 24 Chinese hometown associations in Canada. He recently travelled to Xiangfen County in northern China’s Shanxi Province for an “inspection” of some local industrial and manufacturing sites, according to a May 9 article on Sohu, a well-known media outlet in China.