Top officials from Canada‘s intelligence agency say Chinese espionage in a number of areas is a direct threat to Canada’s national security and sovereignty.
In a rare public address Tuesday (Feb. 9, 2021), David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said “China is pursuing a strategy of seeking geopolitical advantage economically, technologically, politically and militarily, and it uses all aspects of national power to conduct related activities that pose a our national security and sovereignty.”
Vigneault said Canadian companies in a variety of industries are targeted by China, particularly the biopharmaceutical and health industries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, marine technology and aviation. He said, “The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has observed ongoing, high-end threatening operations supported by foreign governments for many years. We continue to see these types of threatening actions increasing and becoming more sophisticated.”
Addressing the threat posed by China to Canadian sovereignty, Director Vigneault said that China’s “fox hunting” operations against corrupt officials who have allegedly fled overseas threaten and intimidate their political opponents in Canada, and that these covert operations undermine Canada’s democratic process and threaten the safety of Canadian citizens.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report alleging that Beijing has used a variety of non-traditional means to gain access to the international system and to exploit its facilities under the rules-based international order to erode and attack U.S. national security and economic competitiveness, including exploitation of the U.S. immigration system, manipulation of open markets and theft of U.S. intellectual property. The report also states that China’s “Fox Hunt” uses unfettered, even illegal, methods to monitor, threaten, and harass Chinese citizens, U.S. citizens, and U.S. permanent residents in the United States.
China has always denied spying on any country. Beijing also said the implementation of the fox hunting operation reflects China’s clear position and firm determination to “pursue all fugitives and pursue them to the end.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday (Feb. 10, 2021) that the remarks made by top Canadian intelligence officials against China “have no basis in fact and China firmly opposes them.” He said the Canadian side should “stop its unwarranted smear attacks on China and stop spreading alarmist remarks.”
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