Playing spy games?

Canada and China are currently locked in a nasty row which is adversely impairing their bilateral ties — already under considerable strain for quite some time now. The trouble started when a 35-year-old researcher, Yuesheng Wang, was arrested by the Canadian security on charges of espionage for trying to steal trade secrets to benefit China. Wang was working at Canada's largest electricity producer, Hydro Quebec, as a battery materials person. Subsequently, he was removed from the service for his complicity in the cases of theft, breach of trust and fraud. Here, it is pertinent to mention that Chinese and the Canadians have been levelling charges against each other for spying, and Canada had ordered three Chinese companies to divest their investments in Canadian critical minerals, citing national security. On November 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised serious concerns about Chinese interference in the internal affairs of Canada during his most recent conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit at Bali.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Prime Minister, in a recent statement, seen as significant, has cautioned the world that China is playing aggressive games with the tenets of democracy and democratic institutions. It is also widely believed that China had been interfering through a clandestine network subverting the election process in Canada. Interestingly, the Chinese President is believed to have chastised the Canadian Prime Minister over alleged leaks of an earlier meeting at the G20 summit, and this unusual display of ire was even captured on camera. Later, Xi had protested over the leaks of the conversation, saying that such private exchanges should not have been made public. On his part, Trudeau disclosed that not every conversation was always going to be easy but it was extremely important that both China and Canada continued to adhere to the priorities that Canada and China stood for. Trudeau also expressed the hope to Xi that he would like to have the opportunity to talk about the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine, Canada-China relations, biodiversity and other issues while Xi responded that the key requirement for China-Canada relations was finding a common ground by managing the difference(s).

It is worth recapitulating that the relations between the two countries have been seriously strained post the 2018 arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on an US extradition warrant; and the subsequent detention by China of Michael Spavor, a businessman, and Michael Kovrig, a regional expert with the International Crisis. The two were later freed in September last year. It was a clear case of tit for tat and spite to settle scores. Now, tension between Canada and China have recently resurged as discussed in the preceding paragraphs.

In an earlier development, Canada had alleged that China directed funds to candidates of the country's liberal and conservative parties to influence policy in Beijing's favour. Efforts to influence these candidates were made from the Chinese Consulate in Toronto which was suspected to be directing espionage-related undercover activities, not compatible with the diplomatic status of its diplomats. This comes in the wake of a Canadian allegation that China was running a network of 'overseas police stations' where dissidents were rounded up and detained. It is also said that 250,000 Canadian dollars was directed through the office of an Ontario-based provincial lawmaker. This shows that Chinese interference in Canadian domestic affairs was blatant.

As the charges of espionage and counter espionage continue, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) found that a large financial transaction was made to at least eleven federal election candidates and Chinese agents. The CSIS had even briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as senior cabinet ministers, in January 2022, about China's attempts of such unethical nature. Some experts also believe that China is attacking Canada because it is a safer route to target the US.

Meanwhile, Canadian security experts recommend that the Trudeau government should reinforce Canada's outdated espionage and counterintelligence laws which countries like China, Russia and Iran are exploiting, leaving Canada vulnerable. These spy games, in the meantime, continue to evince keen interest among the geopolitical strategists as China-Canada relations plummet to a new low.

The writer is a retired IPS officer, a security analyst and a former National Security Advisor to the PM of Mauritius. Views expressed are personal