McCuaig-Johnston: An imagined memo from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa

Following is what we can imagine is an intercepted email from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa to top officials of the People’s Republic of China government in Beijing (English translation).

To: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Beijing

From: Chinese Ambassador to Canada

Subject: Good News from the Report on Foreign Interference in Canada

Dear Minister,

I am writing to convey good news from the publication today of the First Report of the Independent Special Rapporteur into Foreign Interference in Canada. Former governor general David Johnston has announced that, despite 72 per cent of Canadians calling for a public inquiry with subpoena powers, he will instead hold hearings focused in particular on hearing from the Chinese diaspora in Canada. Of course, this comes as a relief to us in the embassy as he might have recommended more scrutiny focused on the role our consulates have played in recent Canadian elections.

The report does identify some of the Canadian media reports about specific intelligence leaks. It goes through them one by one and identifies elements it says are true and other elements that Johnston feels have not been shown with concrete evidence.

For example, the report says that intelligence shows “that the PRC intended for funds to be sent to seven Liberal and four Conservative federal candidates through a community organization, political staff and (possibly unwittingly) a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPP” but media reported that “there was no evidence of covert funding” and senior officials had “no evidence of money flowing to federal candidates.” It seems they will not be pursuing a further search for cash changing hands.

Regarding a report of MP Han Dong’s nomination, the Johnston report did find that “irregularities were observed with Mr. Dong’s nomination in 2019, and there is well-grounded suspicion that the irregularities were tied to the PRC Consulate in Toronto, with whom Mr. Dong maintains relationships” but Mr. Johnston said he found no evidence that Mr. Dong was aware of the irregularities and that the prime minister was briefed and “concluded there was no basis to displace Mr. Dong.” Indeed, reports suggest it is likely that he will return to the Liberal caucus.

Regarding the 2021 election, the Johnston report says that “the PRC’s intention appears to be focused on assisting pro-China candidates and marginalizing anti-China candidates.” It says “there was online misinformation about (former MP Mr. Kenny) Chiu’s foreign agent legislation but the misinformation could not be traced to a state-sponsored source,” and while the Canadian government “has engaged with social media platforms to deal with misinformation …  this does not include WeChat, which is based in the PRC.” This is an interesting and useful finding for future elections.

Mr. Johnston’s report indicates that PRC officials contemplated action directed at MP Michael Chong but “no intelligence indicating that the PRC took steps to threaten his family” in Hong Kong, though “there is intelligence indicating they were looking for information” about them. The CSIS briefing note on this matter was sent to the Minister of Public Safety but he did not receive it.

There were other allegations from the leaks that Mr. Johnston commented upon, but we do not understand why he did not comment on all the leaks, including 10 more that appeared in The Globe and Mail — and why he says a public inquiry cannot report on intelligence information when he has done so in detail and at length in his own report. There are still many things about this country that are difficult to discern.

With respect to the rapporteur’s hearings moving forward, his focus on our diaspora could reveal efforts to follow and harass these people, as well as to pressure their family members in China in order to silence those speaking out in Canada. As we know, those advocating as Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, Falun Gong and human rights dissidents have been calling for a Foreign Agents Registry and single window for investigations — but nothing has been done so we are not too concerned. Indeed, for those appearing publicly to give evidence, we may be able to identify additional individuals we should track. And we are already making plans to have our more recently arrived diaspora, who are organized in various committees across Canada, request to appear at the hearings.

In closing, the new writings of esteemed Party Secretary Xi are being studied by all party members at the Embassy and consulates in Canada. We are contrasting his leadership with the Canadian prime minister’s decision to transfer his decision-making role on these national security questions to Mr. Johnston, who does not have experience in such matters. Such decisions are curious, rather like former British PM David Cameron giving the decision on Brexit to a public referendum. The West has much to learn from us.

With great respect,

Your Ambassador to Canada, Ottawa

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston is the Canadian member of the advisory board of the China Strategic Risks Institute, and Senior Fellow with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa.

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