Chinese émigrés pleaded with the Commission on Foreign Interference Wednesday for the China Inquiry to counter harassment campaigns targeting dissidents in Canada, per Blacklock’s Reporter. Witnesses testified it’s typical for foreign agents to try to bully pro-democracy activists into silence.“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) encourages its members and supporters to join organizations locally,” testified Winnie Ng, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China. “It could be a community service agency, associations, whatever means possible, to permeate and perpetuate these organizations in an attempt to expand influence.”“It appears to be so innocuous. But the hidden agenda is trying to persuade these organizations to remain, quote, unquote, ‘neutral,’ and not to be, quote, unquote, ‘political.’”The commission opened hearings on evidence of misconduct by foreign agents during Canada’s last two federal elections, in 2019 and 2021. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed a minority government each time. “I am hoping the Commission would look beyond the elections of 2019 and 2021 and take a broader and long-range view, looking at the insidious way the PCR has been influencing and interfering with not just the elections but in terms of controlling our media, in terms of usurping our organizations,” testified Ng.Grace Dai, national director of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, said Communist Party agents maintain “systemic control of Chinese community media and digital space in Canada” through platforms such as WeChat. “The Party controls WeChat, the Chinese social media platform,” she said, explaining that party agents sought to “promote the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) narratives and silence the Falun Gong community.”Dai's remarks confirmed testimony at parliamentary hearings that foreign agents have specifically used community media to quash dissent.Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, said intimidation tactics targeting his small Muslim community were more direct.“It is about threats. It is about hijacking your family members to force you or compel you to follow the rules of the hostile regime,” testified Tohti.According to the director, Canada’s Uyghur community numbered only 2,500 but is patriotic. “We are Canadians. We are a small community but we have 13 members in the Canadian Armed Forces and seven members in the police and RCMP and 23 nurses,” he said. “The success of this public inquiry into foreign interference is crucial for the future of our own nation. Unless we study it and figure out the loopholes and close it down, the stakes of inaction are very high for our future generations. For that reason I really want this Commission to be successful and serve the best interest of our nation.”The Commons twice in the past three years has unanimously adopted motions condemning China for crimes against humanity. A 2023 motion asked Canada to accept 10,000 Uyghur refugees threatened with “forced sterilization, forced labour, torture and other atrocities.” A 2021 motion asked that Canada “recognize a genocide is currently being carried out by the People’s Republic of China against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims.”
