Canadian MP Fears for Asian Community After China Interference Allegations

Allegations that forced a Canadian member of parliament (MP) to step down from his party have left some Chinese-Canadians worried that the claims and his subsequent departure could sow seeds of anti-Asian sentiment.

Last week, Han Dong, an MP who represents Don Valley North, announced he would leave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's governing Liberal Party to sit as an independent. Dong's shift came in response to an unconfirmed report from Global News in Canada that accused him of lobbying a Chinese diplomat to keep two Canadians imprisoned in China. Dong has denied the allegations.

MP Jean Yip told Newsweek that she has heard fears from many in the community that there could be a rise in anti-Asian racism and that she's "concerned about unproven allegations, especially ones which suggest disloyalty to Canada."

"Such allegations may result in the negative targeting of the Chinese Canadian community," Yip said. "Our prime minister has appointed a special rapporteur, David Johnson, who will have a wide mandate to make recommendations on any further actions needed to protect and enhance Canadians' faith in our democracy."

Users on Twitter also cautioned that speculation about foreign interference from Beijing could have troubling effects on the Chinese community in Canada.

"Worried about seeing a rise in anti Asian hate crimes," one Twitter user said in response to Dong's move.

"In case you ever doubted that anti-Asian racism in Canada is real, the current coverage of Canadian politics should be your wake-up call," another user wrote on Saturday.

Toronto-based writer Nazanin Zarepour said that peddling the idea of foreign interference, without evidence, would also create "a sentiment of paranoia and xenophobia across the country" and lead to "an increased rate of anti-Asian hate crimes" across the country.

However, some politicians, like MP Michael Chong, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada whose father is from Hong Kong, argue that it's "beyond the pale" to suggest that the concerns surrounding Beijing inference promote anti-Asian racism.

"Canadians concerned about Beijing's threats are not the cause of anti-Asian racism," Chong tweeted last week. "We must counter both anti-Asian racism & the threats from Beijing."

Dong has said he plans to sue Global News over the story, which claims that he advised a senior Chinese diplomat against freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were imprisoned in China for more than 1,000 days on spying charges.

"To all my colleagues in the parliament, media reports today quoting unverified and anonymous sources have attacked my reputation and called into question my loyalty to Canada," Dong said in a March 22 statement. "Let me be clear, what has been reported is false. And I will defend myself against these absolutely untrue claims."

Global News Editor-in-Chief Sonia Verma defended its "rigorous set of journalistic principles and practices" and said it's "very mindful of the public interest and legal responsibility of this important accountability reporting."

In response to Dong's departure, Trudeau told reporters on Friday: "We fully accept that he is stepping away from the Liberal caucus in order to vigorously contest these allegations.

"Interference from authoritarian governments like China, Russia, Iran and others is a very real challenge to our democracies and it's absolutely unacceptable."

This month, Trudeau named former Governor General David Johnston as the new independent special rapporteur investigating foreign interference in the last two federal general elections and a mayoral election in Vancouver.

On Monday, Dong said he supports the public inquiry into foreign interference and said that he is willing to meet with Johnston and "provide any information that he requests."

Dong said that his father brought the family to Canada a year after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and that the "trauma left on my father" is one of the reasons why he had repeatedly advocated for Kovrig and Spavor's release during their detainment. Their imprisonment had been widely viewed as retaliation from Beijing for the 2018 arrest of Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou, who was taken into custody in Canada at the request of the U.S. The two men were eventually freed in September 2021.

"It is inconceivable that I would ever suggest a falsely accused individual should spend an extra minute in jail," Dong said. "Canada has given my family the opportunity to succeed. Despite the abuse and shame my family has suffered over the last few weeks, I truly believe that my parents made the right decision to come to Canada."