My family came to Canada to get away from China's influence. It turns out that was no escape
Canada's failure to act forcefully against foreign interference poses grave risks to freedom
This Opinion piece is by Henry Chan, the co-director of Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
My family came to this country in the 1980s with the idealistic hope that Canada would be a place where the principles of democracy, freedoms, and the rule of law would be respected. My grandfather's generation fled mainland China for British Hong Kong, and my father's generation left Hong Kong for Canada.
Unfortunately, some members of my family now question Canada's future, over the lack of protection from foreign interference from hostile states, specifically the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
We have even developed a cynical joke asking where my generation may have to flee to avoid the communist regime, given that both my grandfather and my father's generations had to leave their homes behind to seek a free life.
It is brutal and heartbreaking to leave family, friends, and your home behind. But what can you do? You cannot change the political system. So if you don't like it, you can only leave. There is a saying in Chinese "the situation is stronger than the people." People are minuscule, awash in a whirlpool of history.
The instinct of my grandfather's and my father's generation was to attempt to shield the next generation from the brutality and lawlessness of the communist regime that came to power in China in 1949 after the Second World War.
To speak ill of the communist regime amounts to subversion or treason in present-day Hong Kong. Doing so means I will bear the consequence of never being able to return to a place that I once called home.
Nonetheless, I am someone that believes in right versus wrong and morality. We know from history that freedom and democracy does not come from the sky, but from many men and women before us who have fought and sometimes died for it. That's why I have spent four years raising the issue of foreign interference, despite the risks of doing so.
People who have spoken out against China have received serious harassment, digital attacks, threats and intimidation, which are well documented both in the 2019 Amnesty International report and by activists who testified before various parliamentary committees.
This is a crucial time in Canada's history when we are hearing a barrage of news stories of interference by foreign regimes, ranging from allegations of China's interference in elections to the latest reports that China has targeted a MP's family in Hong Kong.
If the federal government chooses not to act forcefully against China's interference, what message will that send to those who are threatened daily for their advocacy efforts?
What message does it send to those like my father who gave up everything to come in hopes of one simple thing, freedom?
At a bare minimum, Canada needs a foreign agent registry and an independent commission to investigate and bring to light all foreign interference campaigns within Canada.
The U.S. has used this tool to crack down on foreign interference, leading to criminal charges against two American citizens who allegedly failed to register work they were doing on behalf of the People's Republic of China on American soil.
The U.K. is also looking at adopting a foreign agents registry, which would carry a maximum two-year prison sentence for failing to register political-influence activities on behalf of a foreign power or foreign-controlled entity.
I advocated for a foreign agent registry for four long years. It appears that movement toward such a change may finally be in effect.
Such an action should have been implemented years ago. Our job now is to ensure that the foreign agent registry is meaningful and not merely a symbolic act. This means that there are resources for enforcement that will be crucial to uncover covert and clandestine interference. For those who fail to comply, there should be consequences that are punishable under the law.
Furthermore, there needs to be an emphasis that the foreign agent registry is not targeted against a particular country but all foreign countries who attempt to wield influence in Canada. There needs to be clear guidance on what constitutes foreign interference and who needs to register.
The foreign agent registry is not a fix-it-all approach, given the far reaching effects of foreign interference left unaddressed for years. We should look to allies like Australia to see how they are strengthening national security and espionage laws, as well as electoral contribution laws, to protect themselves from foreign interference.
- What an Australian-style push against Chinese interference might look like
- Canada's allies watching election interference reports with concern
If we allow China's interference to continue and foreign agents to freely come and go to harass, intimidate, and silence diaspora members, Canada will be little more than another subservient state to China.
As a sovereign country, we must protect Canada against foreign interference. We cannot yield, we don't have time to yield, and we don't have the capital to yield an inch on this issue. We have to stand united and strong in combating foreign interference. Partisan rhetoric only allows hostile states to further their cause in Canada.
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