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In March 2026, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada partnered with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law to host a panel discussion in Vancouver, B.C., on "Foreign Interference in Open Societies: Risks, Limits, and Guardrails."

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Key insights:

• Foreign Interference (FI) and Transnational Repression (TNR) must be understood as systematic, multi-stage operations involving surveillance, proxy mobilization, and coercion. Interference operations target diaspora communities and, increasingly, non-Chinese nationals, with significant implications for civic participation, social cohesion, and democratic institutions across Canada and other democracies.

• FI is not only a national security issue, but a multi-dimensional challenge spanning human rights, democratic governance, and information integrity. A narrow security framing risks overlooking the cumulative psychological effects of cognitive and coercive tactics on individuals, communities, and democratic institutions.

• China also uses economic leverage strategically in its interference operations. As Canada deepens engagement with China in a period of global economic volatility, it must ensure that commercial considerations do not come at the expense of Canadian values of human rights and democracy.

• Legal measures alone are insufficient. Effective responses must be whole-of-society, value-based, and carefully calibrated to not only avoid stigmatizing diaspora communities but to proactively disrupt operations to prevent harm.

• This approach demands sustained investment, not only in security infrastructure but in the resources, information, and technical support communities need to assess and address FI.

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Panel discussants included Thomas Kellogg, Executive Director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law; Lynette Ong, Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto and Senior Fellow (non-resident) at APF Canada; Eric Lai, Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law; and Sze-Fung Lee, Independent Researcher.

The panel was moderated by Elizabeth Donkervoort, Senior Advisor of APF Canada’s China Program.