Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly attends a joint news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine Jan. 18, 2022. (Reuters/Ukrainian Foreign Ministry)
Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who has reportedly been involved in targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong and threatening his family members in Hong Kong, has been declared persona non grata by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.
“I have been clear: we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home,” Joly said in a statement on May 8.
Joly said the decision has been made after a “careful consideration of all factors at play.”
The minister told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee on May 4 that her department was assessing the consequences of taking such as step, particularly in light of previous actions by Beijing in the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
In retaliation for Canada honouring its legal obligation to the United States by keeping Meng, who was being accused of fraud, under house arrest, the Chinese regime arbitrarily detained Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for over 1,000 days, from December 2018 to September 2021.
Joly also told the committee on May 4 that Global Affairs Canada summoned Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu over MP Chong’s case.
In a statement issued in response to Joly’s decision on May 8, the Chinese Embassy insinuated that it would retaliate against “provocations” and that Beijing would “play along every step of the way until the very end.”
The Globe and Mail reported on May 1 that, according to a national security source, a Chinese spy service and Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei had targeted MP Chong in 2021 for his advocacy for human rights in China.
Zhao, a consular officer in To
ronto, had been described by a national security source as a “suspected intelligence actor” in an earlier Globe report published on Feb. 13.
Analysis conducted by The Epoch Times shows Zhao’s active participation in functions held by local organizations in Canada that share Beijing’s stances. Also in attendance were elected officials implicated in foreign interference scandals by national security leaks in the media.
Chong and his party have pressed the Liberal government in recent days to expel Zhao, and passed a motion in the House of Commons to that effect on May 8, with support from the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.