CCP interferes in 2021 Canadian federal election

On February 17, 2023, The Globe and Mail reported that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tried disrupting the 2021 Canadian federal election. Chinese diplomats and their proxies allegedly backed the campaigns of certain Liberals to defeat Conservative candidates who defended positions deemed unacceptable by the Chinese state. The Canadian newspaper explained it had seen classified Canadian Security Intelligence Service documents showing that a key part of the operation was to influence vulnerable Chinese immigrants in the country. The documents detailed how CCP leadership pressured its consulates to exploit Chinese-Canadian diaspora members and associations and led disinformation campaigns in areas heavily populated by Chinese immigrant communities, such as Vancouver. Chinese diplomats also directed undeclared cash donations to political campaigns or had international Chinese students assigned to volunteer in rival electoral campaigns. Media identified former consul Wang Jin, who encouraged members of Chinese-Canadian organizations to gather votes for the Liberals, as an intermediary between the United Front and Chinese-Canadian community leaders in British Columbia.

China uses “United Front” work to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of the CCP. The CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD)—the agency responsible for coordinating these kinds of influence operations—mostly focuses on the management of potential opposition groups inside China, but it also has an important foreign influence mission.

About This Incident

Incident Metadata

Date: 2021
Country: Canada
Source: Source Source 2