The federal government has revealed that nearly 90 percent of the staff at the Canadian Visa Application Centre in Beijing are directly employed by companies affiliated with the Beijing Public Security Bureau. (Canada News Service)
On March 10, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) held a video conference in which a number of opposition MPs questioned how Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino was responding to possible espionage at Canada’s visa centers in mainland China. Although Mendicino insisted that he would ensure that the visa application centers themselves had strict security measures in place, it was clear that his claims were not convincing to MPs, who found the current situation worrisome. The video conference also addressed the issue of special immigration and refugee measures for Hong Kong people.
Who was the surveillance video given to?
The federal government recently revealed that 86 percent of the staff at the Canadian Visa Application Centre in Beijing are employed directly by Beijing Shuangxiong Foreign Service Co. which is a subcontractor to VFS, a Canadian government-authorized operator of visa application centers abroad. Beijing Shuangxiong hired its own staff, which was vetted by VFS, not the Canadian government. During a March 10 videoconference, several opposition MPs questioned the matter.
VFS said that the visa centers are equipped with surveillance cameras and that the video surveillance footage is “only available to visa center managers approved by the Department of Immigration. VFS also admitted that some of the Internet routers used at the Canada Visa Center were made by huawei.
And VFS Global itself was revealed to have ties to a Chinese Communist state-owned enterprise. Several NDP MPs wrote to the immigration and public services and procurement ministers at the Time, saying that the presence of Chinese capital raised “serious concerns” about the security of information handled by VFS because, under Section 7 of China’s 2017 National Intelligence Act, when requested, Chinese companies must “support, cooperate and co-operate with the national intelligence work.”
Richard Fadden, former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, recently said the federal government should end its arrangement at the Beijing Visa Centre, which gives the Communist government access to an agency with ties to Immigration Canada, and “I can’t think of another breakthrough for Chinese cyber espionage that would be more attractive to them. “
MP Huizhen Guan: Worrying
In an interview with the Epoch Times after the meeting, NDP MP Huizhen Guan said she was startled when she heard the news that 86 percent of the employees hired by the subcontractor to do back-end visa service work in Canada are owned by the Chinese Communist Party police, and that the chairman of the company (VFS) is the party secretary and the general manager is the deputy party secretary.
Hiring foreign companies is risky, which is why we have introduced strict protocols,” said Canadian Immigration Minister Mendicino in a videoconference. Screening and vetting is done not only for our contractors, but also for each employee (hired) by our subcontractors. That’s why we worked closely with these security agencies and national security agencies before installing the immigration process information equipment; we closely monitor all these protocols and will take all necessary steps to manage these risks to protect the integrity of our immigration system.”
But Huizhen Guan argues, “But this is not true, this subcontractor actually hired all of those people to allow China (the Chinese Communist Party) to control them.”
Guan Huizhen worries that if a dissident from the Chinese Communist Party files an immigration application, the first person to accept his information is likely to be a Communist Party member, and the Chinese Communist Party has clear laws that require reporting to the Chinese Communist Party to be known, so what would happen if in such a case? And there is no way to know what is going on over there (in China) that the Canadian side has no way of knowing. The Conservatives have criticized such a practice in the past, but in 2018 the Liberal government renewed its contract to continue doing so anyway.”
During the video teleconference, Kwan Wai-Ching said, “The minister said keep your eyes open, but I’m not at all comfortable with that. I’m very concerned given the structure of the system, and I’m sure Canadians have the same concerns.” She suggested referring to the U.S. practice of “using diplomatic staff at the consulates to process the applicant’s application information, without the need for Chinese Communist Party staff to help.”
MP Jasragh: No spies?
And Conservative MP Jasragh Singh, a member of parliament, said that the Chinese Communist Party is not a spy. Singh Harlan Jasrag Singh Hallan also questioned during a video conference the same day: “If Chinese pro-democracy activists have not fled to Canada, how can we be sure that Chinese spies have not submitted this information to the Chinese Communist government? How can we know if employees of foreign consulates are not being used for espionage activities? “
Jasrag mentioned that the Chinese Ministry of State Security has been accused in the past. In foreign espionage cases, these spies manipulated and used innocent civilians to spy on allied countries without their knowledge. He said, “Even one Chinese spy can disrupt an entire office operation and pose a significant security threat, how do we know if employees at foreign consulates (VFS Global) are being used?”
MPs call off Beijing contract Immigration Minister does not respond
Due to widespread security concerns, there are now calls from former Canadian diplomats and security experts in China to (terminate) this contract for services that are a security risk. On this issue, Mendicino gave no clear response, stating, “We will continue the government’s interdepartmental cooperation to protect and preserve the integrity of our immigration system.”
Finally Jasrag called for the attention of every citizen, stating, “Everyone has a responsibility to keep the country safe. At the same time, national intelligence agencies need the support of social organizations and citizens.”
Congresswoman Kwan Wai-ching: Hong Kong People Should Be Granted Entry Exemptions
The video conference also touched on the federal government’s current “lifeboat program,” in which NDP MP Kwan Wai-ching raised concerns about the operability of the program, which is limited to young Hong Kong people who graduate from college within five years, and those who are in urgent need of a “lifeboat. The “lifeboats” of Hong Kong people also include secondary school students and adults who have graduated from university more than five years ago.
Kwan Wai-ching pointed out that this group of Hong Kong people cannot come to Canada with refugee status and are subject to a non-essential international travel ban, making it difficult for them to enter Canada to apply for refugee status. She urged the federal government that with many Hong Kong people facing arrest, or possible denial of entry, “most urgently, we need the Canadian government to grant entry (waivers).
Recent Comments