A third of Chinese Canadians believe Beijing meddling in elections, pressuring Canadians: poll
Here’s what Chinese Canadians really think about interference, Xi and the federal response
Six per cent of Chinese Canadians polled even said they had personally been pressured by an apparent Beijing representative
Author of the article:Tom Blackwell
Published Mar 30, 2023
Just over a third of Chinese Canadians believe the government of China has tried to interfere in elections here and pressure Canadians in pursuit of its political aims, suggests a new Postmedia-Leger poll of an ethnic group at the centre of the foreign interference affair.
Only one in five of those surveyed, however, believe governments have done enough to protect them from foreign interference in elections, Leger reports.
At the same time, more than half thought suggesting certain Chinese-Canadian politicians are under Beijing’s influence is racist.
As discussion and debate rages over allegations of meddling by Beijing in Canadian affairs, much attention has turned to the country’s 1.7 million or so residents of Chinese descent.
Some politicians have argued that focusing on Chinese interference fuels an already troubling rise in anti-Asian racism. Other analysts point out that Chinese Canadians are the first and chief target of Beijing’s influence, interference and intimidation efforts, while ridings with large ethnic-Chinese populations would seem to be the focus of election-swaying operations.
The poll provides a rare snapshot of the population’s views on the burning issue, with some intriguing results.
Allegations about election interference by Beijing have focused on concerted disinformation campaigns and financial support for favoured politicians. And those actions appear to be delegated by Chinese officials to proxy groups or individuals in the community. The fact most Chinese-language news media in Canada have a pro-Beijing bent is also considered a key factor.
Yet six per cent of those polled said they had personally been pressured by an apparent Beijing representative to vote for a particular candidate or follow certain views. That sounds insignificant on first blush — but would represent more than 100,000 Canadians if extrapolated population-wide, notes Andrew Enns, Leger executive vice president.
And the number rose to 20 per cent among the 54 respondents who immigrated within the last 10 years, most of whom would have grown up in Mainland China under Communist rule.
“It does give a little bit of evidence that there are some things to look into here quite seriously,” he said. “This would just add to the argument that we should get a good airing of the facts…. Let’s understand what is happening or did happen in the past so we can improve transparency and avoid this type of stuff in the future.”
Leger surveyed 500 adults selected randomly from its online panel of 450,000 Canadians, weighting the results to more accurately reflect the population’s mix of age, gender, education level and other factors. Traditional margins of error do not apply to online surveys, but for a probability sample of the same size, the results would be considered accurate to within 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Asked if they believed allegations that China had interfered in Canadian democracy to influence elections, 36 per cent said yes, 29 per cent said no and 35 per cent said they didn’t know.
Of those who said they believe interference is happening, 64 per cent said it’s part of China’s plan for increased global dominance, while about half said it was to access technological and industrial secrets, extend influence over the U.S. and other Canadian allies or to limit criticism of its human rights record.
Respondents who immigrated in the last decade were somewhat more likely to believe reports of interference than those born here or who immigrated longer ago.
Responses were similar when asked if Beijing was harassing, intimidating or otherwise pressuring people in the Chinese Canadian community, with 34 per cent saying yes. Another 35 per cent said they didn’t know and 27 per cent said no.
China’s intimidation here of its Chinese-Canadian critics and members of minority groups like the Falun Gong, Uyghurs and Tibetans has been well documented, including by a detailed Amnesty International report.
The responses were more definitive on which country they trusted to tell the truth.
Asked how much faith they had in news and information from different sources, 72 per cent said they trusted the federal government a lot or somewhat, compared to 19 per cent for the Chinese regime and 11 per cent for Russia.
But only 21 per cent said they thought the Canadian government was doing enough to protect them from foreign influence in elections, while 34 per cent said they didn’t believe they were sufficiently protected and 45 per cent said they didn’t know.
More than half — 52 per cent — said they agreed that it is a form of racism to suggest that certain Chinese-Canadian politicians may be influenced by Chinese government interests, compared to 27 per cent who disagreed. Another 21 per cent said they didn’t know.
Opinions were mixed on Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has been widely criticized for imposing a more authoritarian rule on his country, oppressing China’s Uyghur minority, clamping down on the democracy movement in Hong Kong, ramping up threats against Taiwan and taking a more confrontational, aggressive stance on the world stage.
Of those surveyed, 31 per cent said they thought he was a generally negative or disruptive force, while the same number said he was doing both good and disruptive things and seven per cent said Xi was generally a force for good.
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/a-third-of-chinese-canadians-believe-beijing-meddling-in-elections-pressuring-canadians-poll
