Is criticizing the Chinese regime anti-Asian? Canadian opposition MPs questioned in Parliament about China’s threat to national security, and to their surprise, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau referred to comments against discrimination against Asians, and the community blasted Trudeau for becoming a propaganda machine for Beijing.
While the Canadian National Laboratory was found to have collaborated on experiments with researchers associated with several Chinese government agencies, and Chinese scientists Qiu Xiangguo and Cheng Keding were later dismissed, another researcher, Yan Feihu Yan of the Military Medical Research Institute of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, worked at the Canadian National Laboratory until last year.
Since the Canadian Intelligence and Security Service has long warned that China and Russia are stealing Canadian vaccine and virus research secrets, some MPs have questioned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Parliament about why people with a Chinese PLA background are allowed in and out of sensitive facilities. Will they be banned in the future? Trudeau replied that the government will ensure the safety of Canadian citizens, but he turned to anti-Asian racial discrimination. “We will not give in to anti-Asian racism. Over the past few months, we have seen a rise in intolerant racism across the country, and we will insist on supporting ethnic diversity.”
Nelly Shin, a Korean MP, said Trudeau’s accusation that MPs are racist when they are seriously discussing national security issues not only violates the principle of deliberation but also involves personal attacks, demanding an apology from Trudeau. “I’m surprised that the prime minister would link national security to discrimination against Asians, and that he used anti-racism as a tool through which to distract people. Asian Canadians don’t like to be used in this way because they are also concerned about national security issues and don’t want to be used as a political shield. The Prime Minister’s comments were provocative, divisive and destructive and require an apology to the nation.”
Chinese MPs Michael Chong and Kenny Chiu issued a joint statement saying Trudeau had conflated Chinese Communist infiltration with anti-Asian racism. In an interview, Chiu said that many people in Canada’s Asian community are suffering from threats and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party, and that instead of standing up for the protection of their citizens, the prime minister has raised the flag of Chinese propaganda. Trudeau should have made it clear why he ignored the warning from the intelligence agency and was unconcerned about the suspicion of foreign theft of intellectual property rights. “China-Canada relations are at a freezing point, but why is it that during the freezing point, at the height of the epidemic, you can allow the top people in the Chinese PLA who are responsible for this to have free access to the highest level research labs in our country.”
The statements from both Chuang and Zhao emphasized that the concerns raised about China were not directed at the Chinese, but at the communist regime.
Andy Ellis, former assistant director of operations for the Canadian National Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), criticized Ottawa’s decision as insane, questioning why the top-security lab, which is difficult to access even for Canadian scientists, would allow PLA scientists to participate in the research.
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