Chinese Canadians Say CCP’s Brazen Threat Against MP’s Family Means Even Greater Risk to Theirs

Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 2, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Recent news that a Chinese diplomat had threatened a Canadian MP’s family in Hong Kong highlights the potential for more severe actions against the general Chinese Canadian population and dissidents by the Chinese Communist Party, warns the leader of a rights advocacy group.

Conservative MP Michael Chong said on Twitter on May 1 that he was “profoundly disappointed” to have learned about threats against his relatives in Hong Kong from the media and not from the Canadian government or Canadian security agencies.

According to a Globe and Mail article citing a 2021 top-secret report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), China’s intelligence service took actions to target Canadian MPs involved in a parliamentary motion that condemned Beijing’s abuse of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang Province. This included seeking information about one MP’s relatives in China. A national security source told the Globe that the MP being targeted was Chong.

Meanwhile, Zhao Wei, the Chinese diplomat who allegedly made the threats, has remained an accredited officer with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto.

“This is extraordinarily appalling to us because if the Chinese Consulate officials in Toronto dared to threaten the Official Opposition party’s foreign critic, they could have done much worse to ordinary citizens of Canada,” Gloria Fung, chair of the Canada-Hong Kong Link, told The Epoch Times.

“The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] has been exploiting the fact that Canadians of Chinese ethnic background still have their relatives and family members in China or Hong Kong, and that’s why they could use them as hostages in exerting pressure on Canadians,” she said.

“At the same time, I’m quite sure the magnitude and extent of intimidation, harassment, will be much more severe than what they do to other Canadians.”

The CCP seeks to control all individuals of Chinese origin, regardless of where they live or what nationality they hold, Fung said, pointing to a remark by former Chinese foreign affairs minister Wang Yi that people of Chinese origin are “first and foremost Chinese.” Wang made the comment in 2016 in response to concerns raised about the detention of Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo, who holds British citizenship.

“We are Canadians and we do not consider ourselves a Chinese citizen. Therefore, I think this is a very misleading and wrong application of the concept of ‘Chinese national,’” Fung said.

Threats Against Diaspora

A Chinese Canadian resident of Toronto who has experienced the CCP’s intimidation tactics says it has caused significant distress to her family in China. As a Falun Gong practitioner, Huang Hua was forced to remain in Canada as a refugee because of the severe persecution she would encounter if she returned to China.

Huang Hua, a Falun Gong adherent, speaks at a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2023. Huang said her family members in China face ongoing harassment and intimidation from the communist authorities. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times