Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and other city officials are on a list of people the Chinese government are trying to influence, according to a media report..The Epoch Times, an international multi-language newspaper affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement, said Friday they had obtained a list of names in a leaked government document which the Chinese communist regime seeks to “cultivate talent.”.The document was issued by the Foreign Affairs Office of the municipal government of Daqing, a city in northeastern China that Calgary is twinned with, said the Times..The 2019 document said it would start an initiative called the “one hundred overseas talent cultivation plan.”.It’s not the first time lists of officials from around the world the Chinese are trying to influence have been leaked..“The list consists of 19 people in Canada, 13 of whom are based in Calgary. Besides Nenshi, the list includes a number of other senior city officials, along with Derek Zhao, who at one point was in charge of the China initiative at Calgary Economic Development,” the newspaper says..“Other targets are academics, a University of Calgary senior administrative official, and senior executives with a number of Calgary-based businesses. “.Nenshi was not aware he was on any list, according to his spokesman.. China list reportedly obtained by the Epoch TimesExcerpt of leaked documents obtained by the Epoch Times .“While Daqing has been one of Calgary’s sister cities since 1985, Mayor Nenshi has had no personal contact with city officials,” Adam Noble-Johnson, the mayor’s communications strategist, said in an email to the Times..The list has targets that span the globe, including people in the U.S., New Zealand, U.K., Pakistan, Spain, and the current mayor of the small city of Esbjerg in Denmark, the Times reported..“Scholars Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg write in their new book, Hidden Hand, that Chinese officials use sister city arrangements to build personal relationships. These can then be ‘weaponized’ when a city plans activities that go against CCP positions, such as deals with Taiwan or meetings with the Dalai Lama,” said the Times..“In 2010, when Richard Fadden was head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, he said that a number of provincial and municipal politicians in Canada were suspected of being under the influence of foreign governments.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694..
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and other city officials are on a list of people the Chinese government are trying to influence, according to a media report..The Epoch Times, an international multi-language newspaper affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement, said Friday they had obtained a list of names in a leaked government document which the Chinese communist regime seeks to “cultivate talent.”.The document was issued by the Foreign Affairs Office of the municipal government of Daqing, a city in northeastern China that Calgary is twinned with, said the Times..The 2019 document said it would start an initiative called the “one hundred overseas talent cultivation plan.”.It’s not the first time lists of officials from around the world the Chinese are trying to influence have been leaked..“The list consists of 19 people in Canada, 13 of whom are based in Calgary. Besides Nenshi, the list includes a number of other senior city officials, along with Derek Zhao, who at one point was in charge of the China initiative at Calgary Economic Development,” the newspaper says..“Other targets are academics, a University of Calgary senior administrative official, and senior executives with a number of Calgary-based businesses. “.Nenshi was not aware he was on any list, according to his spokesman.. China list reportedly obtained by the Epoch TimesExcerpt of leaked documents obtained by the Epoch Times .“While Daqing has been one of Calgary’s sister cities since 1985, Mayor Nenshi has had no personal contact with city officials,” Adam Noble-Johnson, the mayor’s communications strategist, said in an email to the Times..The list has targets that span the globe, including people in the U.S., New Zealand, U.K., Pakistan, Spain, and the current mayor of the small city of Esbjerg in Denmark, the Times reported..“Scholars Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg write in their new book, Hidden Hand, that Chinese officials use sister city arrangements to build personal relationships. These can then be ‘weaponized’ when a city plans activities that go against CCP positions, such as deals with Taiwan or meetings with the Dalai Lama,” said the Times..“In 2010, when Richard Fadden was head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, he said that a number of provincial and municipal politicians in Canada were suspected of being under the influence of foreign governments.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694..
