Here's How China's Huge Apparatus of Influence Works in Canada (And Why It Needs a Public Inquiry)

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More than one in three Canadians doubt the Canadian electoral system. This kind of suspicion that undermines democratic institutions is exactly one of the effects sought by the Chinese government to weaken democracies. 

China has a formidable propaganda war machine. This machine has been at work in Canada for decades.

It is waging psychological warfare, public opinion warfare and legal warfare against Canadians.

Psychological warfare aims to deter Canada from acting against China, or at the very least, to persuade it to act with the utmost caution.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met his Chinese counterpart as part of an official visit to China in August 2016. Relations between the two countries have since deteriorated.

This objective is fully achieved when we look at the extreme timidity with which Justin Trudeau's government is moving forward on the issue of Chinese interference.

This war is fueled by false information from China.< /p>

Public opinion and law

The second war, that of public opinion, is fought both among the Chinese diaspora in Canada and among the greater general public.

China controls virtually all Chinese-language media in Canada and does not hesitate to censor election candidates' messages when it suits them.

More generally, China is trying to create an interpretation of policy that is favorable to it.

Speech of blaming the West, undermining confidence in democracy or overestimating Chinese power is cultivated by Chinese agents.

< p>Thus, several fights of the wokes are watched with rapture by the government of Xi Jinping. 

The third type of war is at the level of law. It is about China using the weaknesses and inconsistencies of the Canadian legal system to its advantage.

The extraordinary support received by Meng Wanzhou, a vice president of Huawei, has shown China's legal strength, but China also takes full advantage of international law to advance its interests as evidenced by its aggressive actions in various UN organizations.

Some will argue that China's actions should be measured against what other countries, such as the United States, are doing.

Precisely. China has an apparatus of political, economic and social influence unlike any other country.

Its actions pass through two very discreet Chinese organizations, but whose power has considerably increased.

The first organization is that of the United Front and the second, that of the Chinese army.

The United Front at work 

The United Front's function is to rally support for China. It is he who is behind the opening of Chinese “police stations” around the world, a project that began in 2014 and which was originally intended to extend to 38 countries, including Canada.

< p>The United Front is at work in several areas. He is behind the agreements in culture, education or research.

He builds databases on Chinese people living abroad. For example, it would have a database of 2.2 million Chinese researchers working around the world.

The role of the Chinese army

The Chinese military is behind Chinese propaganda on social media and it leads various organizations and front companies in various fields, especially in media and high technology or energy.

The main military organization coordinating these actions is based in the Chinese province of Fujian. It is called base 311. It is very difficult to obtain any information on it.

More worryingly, since 2015, any research that may have an impact on national security is directly submitted to the army. Suffice to say that no university cooperation between China and Canada escapes him.

Immense influence

As we can see, the influence of China in Canada goes beyond simple threats to families of elected officials.

It goes much further than lobbying operations on deputies. It affects all areas, at all levels. 

This is why a public inquiry is required.

The weakness of the reaction alone of the Canadian government in the face of this intrusion, which has been going on for decades, justifies this public inquiry.

If such an investigation ends up being held, it must not be confined to the action of Xi Jinping's government on elected officials. It must also have the mandate to examine all of China's actions in Canada.

Unfortunately, the Trudeau government gives the impression of trying to gain time or wanting to focus the investigation on a small part of the problem. If so, who does he want to protect?

♦ Several facts reported in these pages come from: P. Charon and J.-B. Jeangène Vilmer, Chinese Influence Operations. A Machiavellian moment, report by the Strategic Research Institute of the Military School (IRSEM), Paris, Ministry of the Armed Forces, 2th edition, October 2021.&nbsp ;

How China Works

INFLUENCE IN BUSINESSES ACROSS THE WORLD

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China has published a list a few years ago that listed 2 million members of the Chinese Communist Party who worked in major international companies all over the world.

Being a member of the Chinese Communist Party does not ipso facto mean being a spy.

However, absolute obedience to the Party, beyond loyalty to hiring companies, is a duty of members of the Party.  

STUDENT SURVEILLANCE

Canada receives almost a quarter of the more than 500,000 Chinese students studying at its universities. 'stranger.

These students are at the heart of the cooperation between Canadian universities and Chinese universities.

These students are very closely watched, especially when they are on scholarships or belong to Chinese minorities.

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In the United States, some Chinese students are using the political correctness promoted by woke currents to prevent criticism of the Chinese regime in universities.  

DIPLOMATS EXPELLED AND CHINESE ULTRANATIONALISM

The slowness with which the Canadian government expelled Zhao Wei, the Chinese diplomat accused of pressuring MP Michael Chong and his family, shows that the Trudeau government is vulnerable to psychological warfare being waged by China.

The expulsion of the Canadian consul from Shanghai, Jennifer Lalonde, who has a higher diplomatic rank than Mr. Zhao, indicates that the Chinese government is already escalating.

Given the rise of ultra-nationalist groups in China, it would not be surprising if Xi Jinping's government went even further in retaliatory measures. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND INDIGENOUS WAR >

The Chinese government tries to draw parallels between the Chinese and the Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Thus, he likes to point out that the Chinese and the Aboriginal peoples worked to build the railways in the 19th century.

A way of indirectly evoking that Chinese and Aboriginals have in common to have suffered the exploitation of English Canadians.

Conversely, the Chinese authorities use old federal policies of assimilation and cultural genocide against Native people to avoid criticism of the treatment of Uighurs and Tibetans.