Canada has expelled Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target Canada's shadow foreign minister, Michael Chong, who has been critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority, and who says Canada should consider joining AUKUS.
"Canada has decided to declare persona non grata Mr Zhao Wei," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.
"The decision has been taken after careful consideration of all factors at play.
"Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home."
The expulsion escalates already-tense relations with Canada's second-largest trading partner.
China's embassy in Ottawa said it condemned the expulsion, and it had formally protested against the move to the government.
"China will resolutely take countermeasures," a spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement posted on its website.
The embassy accused Canada of breaching international law and acting based on anti-Chinese sentiment, adding the move had "sabotaged" relations between China and Canada.
Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa, said China was mostly likely to respond by expelling a Canadian diplomat.
What did Canada's spy agency find?
Spy agency Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) authored a report in 2021 about Chinese influence in Canada that included information about potential threats to Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family.
China says it has never interfered in Canada's internal affairs and has no interest in doing so.
China's Toronto consulate-general says the report on Mr Chong has "no factual basis and is purely baseless".
Details of the CSIS report came to light on May 1, when Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported China sought information about Mr Chong and his family in China in a likely effort to "make an example" of him and deter others from taking anti-Chinese government position.
"We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference," Ms Joly said on Monday.
The Globe, citing an unnamed national-security source, said Mr Zhao was involved in gathering information about Mr Chong.
In 2021, Mr Chong sponsored a successful motion declaring China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority genocide.
Mr Chong said he was "profoundly disappointed" to find out about the potential threat to his family in Hong Kong from a newspaper, and criticised Mr Trudeau's government for inaction.
He repeatedly called for Mr Zhao's expulsion since the Globe report.
"This should have happened years ago," Mr Chong said on Monday.
"I hope that this makes it clear, not just to the People's Republic of China, but [also] other authoritarian states who have representation here in Canada, that this crossing the line of diplomacy into foreign interference threat activities is utterly unacceptable here on Canadian soil."
Reports Canada wants to join AUKUS
Mr Chong also spoke with ABC News radio after reports about Canada's interest in the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact.
When asked about a newspaper report saying Ottawa was seeking to join the AUKUS alliance, Canada's Defence Minister, Anita Anand, expressed interest in collaborating with Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom on advanced technologies.
However, she refrained from indicating whether Canada would pursue membership in the AUKUS security pact.
"Canada is highly interested in furthering cooperation on AI, quantum computing and other advanced technologies [to strengthen] a defence nexus with our closest allies," Ms Anand told reporters in Ottawa.
Mr Chong told the ABC that Canada — which is part of the Five Eyes intelligence group — has the longest coastline in the world and an ageing fleet of submarines.
"There's worry that AUKUS could evolve into a Three Eyes Alliance, a much tighter alliance of allies who are willing to put the resources behind defence and security," he said.
"I think the world has changed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine … I think it's clear that we are under threat from authoritarian states that are indirectly or directly attacking other democracies.
"All democracies are scrambling to re-equip their militaries to address these new threats."
Mr Chong said he believed that Canada was excluded from the first iteration of AUKUS because, he said, the Canadian government had not met its defence spending commitments.
However, he added, Canada had a lot to offer.
"Canada has long been a leader in nuclear technology. We developed one of the first reactors to power, nuclear electricity in the world," he said.
Beijing denies political interference
Mr Trudeau said he found out about the intelligence report from the newspaper, and on Wednesday last week blamed the spy agency for not passing it on to him at the time.
The agency has now been directed to immediately pass on information about threats to members of parliament and their families, Mr Trudeau said.
Canadian media outlets have published several reports, citing anonymous intelligence sources, about alleged schemes run by the Chinese government to interfere in Canada's last two elections. Beijing has denied those allegations.
Mr Trudeau has previously said China attempted to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 votes, but the efforts did not change the outcome.
He has appointed an independent special investigator to probe the allegations.
Diplomatic tensions between Canada and China have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges. All three were freed in 2021.
Reuters/AP/ABC
