The Canadian government updated travel advisories to China on Sunday (11) as relations between China and Canada worsen, warning that people with family or ethnic ties to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region could be at risk of arbitrary detention. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Intelligence released separate reports on Monday (12) focusing on foreign espionage, naming China and Russia as the main cause.
Global Affairs Canada updated its travel advice to China on its website, stating that Chinese Communist authorities are increasingly detaining ethnic minorities and Muslims in Xinjiang without due process, and that Chinese family members of Canadian citizens have been detained; and that the situation in Xinjiang is tense, making it difficult to obtain accurate information, and that Communist authorities can impose curfews and restrictions at short notice. Canada advises travelers to avoid rallies and demonstrations, to carry identification documents and to follow the instructions of local authorities; it expects heightened security measures and frequent security checks in Xinjiang, which could seriously delay travel. Canada also said foreign journalists and other media workers in China face considerable restrictions on their work and warned that special care should be taken if they have researched or reported on issues critical of the government, sensitive and relevant to Xinjiang, Tibet and other places.
The CSIS annual report noted that last year saw a significant increase in violent extremism, foreign intervention, espionage and malicious cyber activity against Canada, which has become increasingly serious for Canadians on all fronts, with foreign threat actors including hostile intelligence agencies and those working for them seeking to take advantage of the social and economic conditions caused by the new crown epidemic to gather useful information. Authorities have described last year’s espionage and foreign intervention activities as the largest since the end of the Cold War, and say that China, Russia and other foreign countries continue to quietly collect Canadian political, economic and military intelligence through these activities to support their national development objectives.
A report by Canada’s Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Intelligence similarly concluded that the New Crown epidemic gave foreign countries additional incentives to obtain Canadian intelligence in the health, science and technology fields, particularly research on the New Crown vaccine. The report cited Russia as the culprit in the theft of proprietary data through espionage and covert cyberattack activities, and criticized China and others for attempting to harass, manipulate and intimidate Canadian groups into supporting Chinese policies or silencing dissidents, and to influence the Canadian government through deception.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded on Tuesday (13), saying that the Canadian travel alert was groundless and that China has repeatedly refuted the lies about Xinjiang fabricated by some Western institutions and personnel, welcoming more foreigners to Xinjiang to understand the real situation, and stressing that any lies and false information will not be broken in the face of facts and truth.
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