cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/8724834
Chinese consular officials met with a Vancouver city hall employee last month and urged her to cancel an arts event that highlighted communist party repression, sources told Global News.
At the meeting, representatives of China’s consulate told a staff member of the city’s civic theatres branch that they wanted a series of performances by the Shen Yun dance group to be stopped, the sources said.
The event, a celebration of Chinese cultural traditions lost under Communist rule, also received bomb threats, but went ahead anyway April 8-12 at the city-owned Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
But the incident suggests that China continues to use its diplomatic missions to silence dissent in Canada, even as Prime Minister Mark Carney pursues a detente with Beijing.
Canada’s intelligence agencies have alleged that China uses both diplomatic and foreign interference tactics, such as threats and harassment, to advance its interests overseas.
According to Public Safety Canada guidelines, “targeting any level of government to influence public policy or decision-making in a way that is clandestine, deceptive or threatening, and is contrary to Canadian interests” constitutes foreign interference.
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Approaching Canadians in the diaspora, and who may have family members in China vulnerable to reprisals, is a common foreign interference tactic.
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“The mayor and council need to take this very seriously,” said former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart, now an associate professor at the Simon Fraser University School of Public Policy.
“What’s worrying to me is the level of interference. Taking pot shots at politicians is one thing, but starting to infiltrate within the civil service and directly intimidating civil servants, I haven’t heard of that before,” he said.
“So this is perhaps an emboldened move by the consulate, if they are actively going in and trying to change city operations, bypassing politicians, bypassing political avenues and doing this internally.”
“That’s deeply worrying to me.”
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Beijing seeks to silence criticism
Shen Yun may be known to most Canadians for the colourful flyers dropped in their mailboxes promoting their events, if not for the performances themselves.
But for the Chinese government, the show has become a preoccupation, according to an organization representing Falun Gong practitioners.
“Why is a proclaimed superpower afraid of a dance performance?” asked Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada.
As far back as 2011, the Chinese consul general in Vancouver urged then-mayor Gregor Robertson to boycott Shen Yun on the grounds that it was all “cult messages and political attacks,” Business in Vancouver reported.
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They spoke about bomb threats to venues and said Chinese consular officials had warned Shen Yun’s sponsors that their business with China would be impacted, and they would not be able to obtain travel visas.
“Chinese embassies and consulates around the world have tried to sabotage and prevent the show from performing in different parts of the world,” according to a report submitted to the inquiry.
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Although Vancouver city staff did not acquiesce to the consulate’s alleged push to axe the shows, the sources said the employee who met with Chinese officials was upset about the encounter.
“For civil servants, it’s very worrying. They really have no defence against this. It’s elected officials who have to stand up for them,” Stewart, the former Vancouver mayor, said in an interview.
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Before landing in Vancouver, Shen Yun performed in Toronto on March 28 without incident, but a threat on March 29 prompted the evacuation of the theatre.
Sent by email, it said explosives had been placed inside the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, as well as on Parliament Hill.
The same email account sent another message the following day, warning that gunmen would enter the theatre disguised as audience members, shoot the performers and set fire to the venue.
“Just wait and see,” it said.
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Is China emboldened by Carney's embrace?
The week Shen Yun was to open in Vancouver, an email arrived on April 2 that said a “large quantity” of ammonium nitrate explosives and a remote detonation device “have been placed.”
“Please immediately cancel all future Shen Yun performances,” it continued. Otherwise, the explosives would be detonated, read the email, which was reported to the Vancouver Police Department.
Police determined it was a hoax. Cybercrime officers found that the email address used to send the message was associated with a phone number in China, an officer told event organizers.
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There is no evidence that the threats come directly from the Chinese government, but Beijing’s demonization of the show and of the Falun Gong may well have been contributing factors.
Further, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service identified the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as recently as Friday as one of the “main perpetrators of foreign interference” in the country, along with India, Russia, Iran and Pakistan.
“PRC foreign interference is wide-ranging. It targets all levels of government,” the report of the Hogue foreign interference commission said, adding Beijing seeks to “control and influence Chinese diaspora communities, shape international opinions and influence politicians to support PRC policies.”
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Dissidents, however, are warning that they are experiencing increased harassment and that Carney’s reengagement with Xi may have emboldened China to continue targeting them.
“The Canadian government is encouraging the Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to do whatever he wants, whatever he needs. And he knows that, clearly,” said human rights activist Sheng Xue.
Likely because of her activism, Xue said she was regularly targeted, including having her email address used in threats to attack venues hosting Shen Yun performances.
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She said Carney’s policy was sending the message that it was okay to work with China, since the prime minister was doing so, and that some would take it as a green light to help the communist party exert influence in the community.
Canadian political leaders should be standing beside those who are persecuted by China, such as pro-democracy activists, Falun Gong, Tibetans and Uyghurs, Xue said.
“There are so many, but I’m so sorry that our prime minister, he chose to stand beside Xi Jinping,” she said.
“It is, of course, totally wrong.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to questions.