Canada warned China against interfering in its elections during a rare meeting of the countries’ defence chiefs, Reuters said.
Canada’s domestic spy agency earlier said China had interfered in the last two elections as part of an official investigation into election meddling. Beijing has denied the allegations. Now it’s doing it again. Defence Minister Bill Blair said:
“I raised the concern of foreign interference in all the manifestations that it might take, including interference in our institutions, including our elections, but also actions of collusion against the Chinese diaspora in Canada, our citizens.”
This is not the first sign of strain in Canada-China relations. Last year, Ottawa said a Conservative MP with family in Hong Kong was the target of an online disinformation operation. The government expelled a senior Chinese diplomat after an intelligence report accused him of trying to attack the lawmaker.
Blair said he also raised concerns about Chinese military action around Taiwan after January’s presidential election on the island. The minister said Canada will increase its presence in Asia and engage with India. He said:
“There can’t be any toleration for the territorial murder of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. (…) But I think (the charges) has created the circumstances where we can begin to address issues of disagreement and some of the concerns that India has also expressed to us.”
Diplomatic relations soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last year that Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” that Indian agents were potentially linked to the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
