{"id":23714,"date":"2011-09-15T02:22:33","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T07:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=23714"},"modified":"2011-09-15T02:49:34","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T07:49:34","slug":"20110915%e4%b8%ad%e5%9b%bd%e5%ae%98%e6%96%b9%e5%9b%9e%e5%ba%94%e5%9b%bd%e4%bc%9a%e8%ae%ae%e5%91%98%e8%b0%83%e6%83%85%e7%94%b5%e9%82%ae%e6%a1%88%e8%8b%b1%e6%96%87%e6%8a%a5%e9%81%93%e6%b1%87%e6%80%bb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=23714","title":{"rendered":"20110915\/\u4e2d\u65b9\u5b98\u5458\u56de\u5e94\u56fd\u4f1a\u8bae\u5458\u8c03\u60c5\u7535\u90ae\u6848(\u82f1\u6587\u62a5\u9053\u6c47\u603b)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese envoy decries \u2018irresponsible\u2019 coverage of Tory MP\u2019s e-mail affair<\/strong>
\nSTEVEN CHASE
\nOTTAWA\u2014 Globe and Mail Update
\nPosted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 10:35AM EDT<\/p>\n

The Chinese government says the Bob Dechert affair is a private matter and it\u2019s \u201cirresponsible\u201d for the press to imply Beijing had any hand in it.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dechert, a Conservative MP with special foreign affairs duties, says amorous e-mails he sent to a journalist with China\u2019s state news service are part of an \u201cinnocent friendship.\u201d These include messages where he said he loved Shi Rong, a Toronto correspondent for Xinhua News Agency.<\/p>\n

Canada’s top spy last year warned that the Chinese were trying to infiltrate Canadian politics. Western intelligence agencies consider Xinhua a tool of the Chinese state that collects information for Beijing.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa told The Globe and Mail the country has nothing to say about the personal relationship between Mr. Dechert, 53, and Ms. Shi. Both are married to other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have noted related reports, but are in no position to comment on ‘domestic disputes’ and privacy of those involved,\u201d the embassy spokesman said, asking he not be named. \u201cHowever, it must be pointed out that it is irresponsible to use this to defame the Chinese Government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister’s Office is standing by Mr. Dechert, saying it has no information to contradict the Mississauga\u2013Erindale MP’s assertion that he has not engaged in \u201cinappropriate behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the cache of leaked e-mails that brought this matter to light, though, is an especially personal letter about an entanglement gone sour \u2013 one that raises more questions.<\/p>\n

The Harper government treated this missive, written in Chinese, seriously enough that it went to the trouble of translating it while investigating what transpired between Mr. Dechert and Ms. Shi.<\/p>\n

The e-mail, titled \u201cOld Fox,\u201d was part of the same bundle of e-mails hacked from Ms. Shi\u2019s inbox last week and sent without her consent to more than 240 business, academic and political contacts. She blames her husband for the leak.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dechert is never mentioned by name in this note \u2013 a fact Tory government officials cite when defending their decision to stand by the MP.<\/p>\n

This e-mail, however, appears to be counselling Ms. Shi on a relationship she\u2019s having with an older man \u2013 something that was more a friendship and is now on the rocks.<\/p>\n

Dated June 26, 2010, it was purportedly sent to Ms. Shi by fellow Xinhua correspondent Qu Jing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the old man, tune him out,\u201d reads the e-mail from Ms. Qu, which then goes into a lengthy diatribe about how men treat their girlfriends as \u201cclothes\u201d that they can wear or discard as they see fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the sad tales you told me about him keeping you waiting for a long time, put it out of your mind. I have experienced the same,\u201d Ms. Qu writes to Ms. Shi. \u201cSweep him into dust bin, he is not good enough for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/ottawa-notebook\/chinese-envoy-decries-irresponsible-coverage-of-tory-mps-email-affair\/article2165561\/<\/p>\n

Fallout from Dechert affair creates ripples in China<\/strong>
\nSTEVEN CHASE , MARK MACKINNON AND COLIN FREEZE
\nOTTAWA, BEIJING AND TORONTO\u2014 From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
\nPublished Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011 9:22PM EDT
\nLast updated Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011 9:24PM EDT<\/p>\n

The Chinese government has waded into the controversy over the Bob Dechert affair, a sign that the fallout from a Canadian MP\u2019s relationship with a journalist for China\u2019s state-controlled news agency is creating ripple effects in international relations.<\/p>\n

The Chinese embassy in Canada only infrequently makes public statements to Canadian news media.<\/p>\n

An embassy spokesman told The Globe and Mail that China considers Mr. Dechert\u2019s travails a private matter. He also said it\u2019s \u201cirresponsible\u201d for the press to imply that Beijing had any hand in it.<\/p>\n

More than five days ago, Mr. Dechert, a Conservative MP with special foreign affairs duties, admitted to sending amorous e-mails to Xinhua News Agency correspondent Shi Rong. He denied compromising Canadian secrets and said his \u201cflirtatious\u201d messages \u2013 which include professing love for the younger woman \u2013 were part of an \u201cinnocent friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s top spy last year warned that the Chinese were trying to infiltrate Canadian politics. Western intelligence agencies consider Xinhua a tool of the Chinese state that collects information for Beijing.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said the country has nothing to say about what he framed as a couple\u2019s quarrels.<\/p>\n

Both Mr. Dechert, 53, and Ms. Shi, whom colleagues estimate is in her 30s, are married to other people. The MP\u2019s intimate e-mails to the Chinese journalist were broadly leaked last Thursday night to more than 240 contacts across Canada, a move Ms. Shi blames on her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have noted related reports, but are in no position to comment on \u2018domestic disputes\u2019 and the privacy of those involved,\u201d the Chinese embassy spokesman said, asking that he not be named. \u201cHowever, it must be pointed out that it is irresponsible to use this to defame the Chinese government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s Office is standing by Mr. Dechert, saying it has no information to contradict the Mississauga\u2013Erindale MP\u2019s assertion that he has not engaged in \u201cinappropriate behaviour.\u201d Officials say by this they mean that he has not compromised Canadian state secrets.<\/p>\n

There are further indications, however, that the relationship between Mr. Dechert and Ms. Shi went deeper than a friendship.<\/p>\n

Little noticed in the cache of leaked messages and photos that brought the Dechert affair to light last week were two notes, apparently written by Ms. Shi\u2019s husband and sent to a broad range of contacts, that accuse her of being in love with the MP.<\/p>\n

One of these notes accused Ms. Shi of seeking to dissolve her marriage \u201cin order to be in love\u201d with this \u201ccongressman,\u201d or MP. \u201cThis is the Shi Rong you should have known,\u201d the angry note says in Chinese.<\/p>\n

Another is apparently directed at Ms. Shi\u2019s Xinhua editors in Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShi Rong\u2019s husband found out about these problems but failed so many times to persuade her [to stop], so [I] wanted to reflect this situation to [Xinhua] which sent her to work\u201d in Canada. \u201cShi Rong was praised many times by headquarters and has also almost reached the end of her posting, [so she] is afraid this thing will affect her future development.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, recipients report receiving three e-mails from her address over the space of six hours: one with the MP\u2019s e-mails and other correspondence, another with no attachments and a third from Ms. Shi telling them to disregard what they\u2019d read.<\/p>\n

Ms. Shi is the Toronto correspondent for Xinhua. A Chinese-language journalistic colleague of Ms. Shi said acquaintances of the Xinhua reporter had the impression her husband did not live with her full time in Toronto but resided in Beijing and visited from time to time.<\/p>\n

A Globe journalist visited Xinhua\u2019s Toronto offices Wednesday but was turned away by two staffers who refused to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/fallout-from-dechert-affair-creates-ripples-in-china\/article2166657\/<\/p>\n

Chinese reporter, \u2018Old Fox\u2019 more than friends in e-mail<\/strong>
\nSTEVEN CHASE AND MARK MACKINNON
\nOTTAWA AND BEIJING\u2014 Globe and Mail Update
\nPublished Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011 10:43PM EDT
\nLast updated Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011 9:11AM EDT<\/p>\n

Bob Dechert calls \u201cflirtatious\u201d messages he sent to a journalist with China\u2019s state media part of an innocent friendship but among the cache of leaked e-mails that brought this to light is an especially personal letter about an entanglement gone sour \u2013 one that raises more questions.<\/p>\n

The Harper government treated this missive, written in Chinese, seriously enough that it went to the trouble of translating it while investigating what transpired between Mr. Dechert, 53, and Xinhua News Agency correspondent Shi Rong.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dechert is a Conservative MP with special duties to assist the Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Ms. Shi is the Toronto correspondent for Xinhua, an organization that Western counter-intelligence agencies consider a tool of the Chinese state. Both are married.<\/p>\n

The e-mail, titled \u201cOld Fox,\u201d was part of the same bundle of e-mails hacked from Ms. Shi\u2019s inbox last week and sent without her consent to more than 240 business, academic and political contacts. She blames her husband for the leak.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dechert is never mentioned by name in this note, a fact Tory government officials cite when defending their decision to stand by the MP.<\/p>\n

This e-mail, however, appears to be counselling Ms. Shi on a relationship she\u2019s having with an older man \u2013 something that was more than a friendship and is now on the rocks.<\/p>\n

Dated June 26, 2010, it was purportedly sent to Ms. Shi by fellow Xinhua correspondent Qu Jing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the old man, tune him out,\u201d reads the e-mail from Ms. Qu, which then goes into a lengthy diatribe about how men treat their girlfriends as \u201cclothes\u201d that they can wear or discard as they see fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the sad tales you told me about him keeping you waiting for a long time, put it out of your mind. I have experienced the same,\u201d Ms. Qu writes to Ms. Shi. \u201cSweep him into dust bin, he is not good enough for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the Harper government, which has refused to fire Mr. Dechert from his parliamentary secretary post, keep repeating that the MP has denied any \u201cinappropriate behaviour\u201d and that it has \u201cno information to suggest otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

In e-mails that that Mr. Dechert has already admitted writing \u2013 and are widely circulated in the media \u2013 he professes his love for Ms. Shi and fawns over a picture of her.<\/p>\n

The Mississauga Erindale MP did not respond to a request for an interview Tuesday and Ms. Shi has avoided answering media calls since the story broke.<\/p>\n

University of Toronto political scientist Nelson Wiseman, who has been interviewed by Ms. Shi in the past, said he is surprised Mr. Dechert hasn\u2019t been removed from his duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really bad judgment,\u201d he said of Mr. Dechert\u2019s conduct. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt Xinhua is strictly under the thumb of the Chinese authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little is known about Ms. Shi. Mr. Wiseman said she told him she\u2019d previously studied in England and was especially interested in the works of Oscar Wilde.<\/p>\n

He said during past interviews he pressed Ms. Shi on how Xinhua works.<\/p>\n

It is taken as a given by those who study China and its security apparatuses that correspondents sent abroad by the Xinhua newswire are agents of the state, and journalists only on the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI explicitly asked her whether she belongs to the Communist Party,\u201d Mr. Wiseman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she danced around it and said no.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I said \u2018Well, hold it, how can you work for them without being a member?\u2019 So she said she was just very good [at her job], as if her other qualities had made up for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he didn\u2019t give this much credence.<\/p>\n

Xinhua colleagues of Ms. Shi described her as a \u201cnaive\u201d rookie foreign correspondent and denied that the newswire\u2019s reporters engage in espionage.<\/p>\n

A long-time Xinhua correspondent, retired after 40 years with the newswire and two postings abroad, said he and his colleagues were too busy trying to appease editors in Beijing to do espionage on the side. He said demands on correspondents are even higher since Xinhua \u2013 like media companies worldwide \u2013 expanded operations in recent years to include broadcast and online media..<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/chinese-reporter-old-fox-more-than-friends-in-e-mail\/article2165156\/<\/p>\n

GLOBE EDITORIAL:Bob Dechert is flirting with trouble<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
\nPublished Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011 8:23PM EDT
\nLast updated Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011 11:00PM EDT<\/p>\n

Bob Dechert, the MP for Mississauga-Erindale, ought to fully clarify his dealings and conversations with Shi Rong, a reporter in Toronto for the Xinhua news agency, which is owned by the Chinese state, even if he was merely flirting, as he says. If he does not, he will invite suspicions that he fits a pattern described last year by Richard Fadden, the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency, of some Canadian political \u201cfigures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries\u201d \u2013 among which Mr. Fadden clearly intimated that he included China. His words were expressed indiscreetly, but they were not retracted.<\/p>\n

Although Mr. Fadden referred to provincial and municipal politics, federal politics are not immune.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dechert is one of the two parliamentary secretaries of John Baird, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee. Presumably, he has access to some confidential information. Though it has been mentioned that he also belongs to a five-MP panel that will have a role in considering potential justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Chinese Communist Party is hardly likely to be looking for an agent of influence at 301 Wellington St., Ottawa, to manipulate Charter litigation.<\/p>\n

Xinhua is not simply a front; it churns out news stories that in many respects resemble those of ordinary wire services. On the other hand, it is not neutral. Some of Xinhua\u2019s foreign correspondents also write \u201cinternal reference reports\u201d for party and government officials.<\/p>\n

Chinese intelligence agents are said to gradually cultivate contacts with mid-level officials, first eliciting routine information, but eventually extorting genuine secrets. If such a process was in the works in this instance, Ms. Shi\u2019s jealous husband may have done Mr. Dechert and Canada a favour by distributing his foolish e-mails, before it went too far. In any case, Mr. Dechert must be completely frank with the Canadian authorities about a friendship that was, to borrow Mr. Fadden\u2019s phrase, \u201cquite an attachment.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/opinions\/editorials\/bob-dechert-is-flirting-with-trouble\/article2165037\/<\/p>\n

Tory MP urged to resign over emails to Chinese journalist<\/strong><\/p>\n

Married parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs sent ‘flirtatious’ emails to journalist<\/p>\n

CBC News Posted: Sep 14, 2011 2:33 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 14, 2011 2:19 PM ET <\/p>\n

The interim leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, Nycole Turmel, has joined the chorus calling on MP Bob Dechert to resign as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.<\/p>\n

The Conservative MP from Ontario admitted on Friday that he had sent “flirtatious” emails to Shi Rong, a journalist working in Toronto for China\u2019s state-run news agency, Xinhua.<\/p>\n

“He should step down and there should be an investigation,” Turmel told reporters in Quebec City, where her caucus is holding a retreat in advance of Parliament’s return next week. “We believe it is inappropriate what happened. He’s a key person.”<\/p>\n

The emails were sent in April 2010, when Dechert was serving as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice. Some members of the media received the messages when they were circulated to a wide distribution list of contacts from the journalist’s email account late last week.<\/p>\n

In his Friday statement, Dechert said Shi’s account was hacked as part of a domestic dispute.<\/p>\n

One of the emails was signed “Love, Bob” but Dechert denies they represent evidence of a full-fledged romantic affair.<\/p>\n

Security questions raised
\nDechert, who was appointed parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs in May, said he met Shi while doing interviews for Chinese-language media and she became a friend. He maintains the emails were nothing more than a flirtation, but the relationship has raised questions given Shi\u2019s employer.<\/p>\n

Some Xinhua journalists have been linked to the Chinese government’s intelligence-gathering activities.<\/p>\n

Although his responsibilities as one of the parliamentary secretaries for foreign affairs do not include Asia, Dechert is on the executive of the Canada-China Legislative Association, a group of MPs and senators who work on exchanges of parliamentary delegations to foster the relationship between the two countries. He also travelled to China with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on government business in 2009.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said he’s known Dechert for a long time and he trusts him still. For several days now, Baird has downplayed the possibility that the emails indicate any security threat.<\/p>\n

NDP MP Jack Harris accused the government of inconsistency.<\/p>\n

“This government let loose the CSIS director to talk about influences by foreign governments in Canada and here we have what is commonly regarded as the next best thing to a spy agency with one of their representatives in this kind of communication with the parliamentary secretary,” Harris said Tuesday on Power & Politics with Evan Solomon. “The government’s messaging doesn’t ring true here.”<\/p>\n

“To dismiss this out of hand which the government has done doesn’t do justice to the situation and the concerns that Canadians would necessarily have,” adds Harris, who called on Dechert to resign.<\/p>\n

“It’s an unfortunate lack of judgment on Bob’s part,” said Joyce Murray, a B.C. Liberal MP who is also on the executive of the Canada-China group. “It damages the credibility of MPs that work to build these relationships [between countries].”<\/p>\n

Murray stopped short of calling for Dechert’s resignation on Tuesday, but said it only takes common sense to know that this relationship is unwise. “It undermines confidence that MPs are focused on business,” she said, claiming such a revelation could leave the impression their work is “vulnerable to personal agendas.”<\/p>\n

Murray was unimpressed with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s comments on the situation Tuesday, which she found too dismissive of the possibility of a security threat.<\/p>\n

“It’s up to the government to take it seriously,” she said.<\/p>\n

Murray finds the Dechert emails particularly unfortunate given the current state of Canada’s relationship with China.<\/p>\n

“The prime minister and his team did such a poor job relationship-building in China for the first few years [of the Harper government],” she said, calling Harper’s early efforts “botched diplomacy.”<\/p>\n

While things had started to shift more recently to a less confrontational approach to the trading relationship, “the Chinese are very sensitive to issues of image and respect,” Murray said, deeming Dechert’s behaviour “not helpful.”<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/story\/2011\/09\/14\/pol-dechert-folo.html<\/p>\n

Chinese security spies often placed in newsrooms around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published On Tue Sep 13 2011<\/p>\n

By Bill Schiller
\nAsia Bureau<\/p>\n

BEIJING\u2014China routinely places state security agents in Xinhua news bureaus around the world, according to a senior Chinese journalist.<\/p>\n

Foreign correspondent jobs are appointed by the Ministry of State Security for set periods, and while they may write the occasional story, their job is intelligence gathering, he said on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

The rare acknowledgement of the practice comes as debate continues in Ottawa about the relationship between Mississauga MP Bob Dechert and Xinhua News Agency\u2019s Toronto bureau chief, Shi Rong.<\/p>\n

Dechert, is parliamentary secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, with a security clearance giving him access to sensitive information.<\/p>\n

His relationship with Shi appeared to blossom after Dechert turned up on Prime Minister Stephen Harper\u2019s first trip to China in December 2009.<\/p>\n

By April 2010, Dechert\u2019s emails \u2014 apparently made public by Shi\u2019s angry spouse \u2014 gush with the kind of affection that seems well beyond what Dechert has publicly declared a \u201cfriendship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are so beautiful,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat look is so cute. I love it when you do that.\u201d And later, \u201cI miss you. Love, Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Dechert and Shi are married.<\/p>\n

No one has yet accused Shi of being an intelligence agent \u2014 and part of what analysts call \u201ca honey trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baird insists such concerns are \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But intelligence specialists have expressed concerns about that possibility and are calling for an investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think (Baird\u2019s) comments are premature, and he should wait until an investigation, either by CSIS or the RCMP, has been conducted,\u201d former CSIS analyst J. Michael Cole said in an email Tuesday, noting China has \u201ca long history of using espionage.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not as if Ottawa doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Cole said \u201cnearly half of CSIS\u2019 counterintelligence resources are focused on China.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, the experienced Chinese journalist who spoke to the Star said that at his media outlet a number of \u201cforeign correspondents sent abroad had no previous connection to journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose sent from our unit weren\u2019t actually from our unit, but from the Ministry of State Security,\u201d the contact said.<\/p>\n

He made clear that these \u201ccorrespondents\u201d weren\u2019t just \u201capproved\u201d by the Ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were appointed by the Ministry,\u201d the contact said.<\/p>\n

The media outlet\u2019s editors had no say in the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWere they actually reporters?\u201d the Star asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not,\u201d the journalist replied.<\/p>\n

While they did file journalistic stories back home, the contact said, their training was aimed at intelligence gathering.<\/p>\n

Typically, the aspiring correspondents attended the University of International Relations in Beijing or another similar university in Nanjing, \u201cwhere they learned to master a foreign language and how to do intelligence work,\u201d the journalist said.<\/p>\n

They would then work abroad for a set number of years, \u201cand then disappear,\u201d he said. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t see them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

How many agents the State Security Ministry actually appoints depends on the rank and importance of the media outlet. There are several major media outlets that maintain correspondents abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a powerful, high ranking media outlet, the Ministry of State Security might say, \u2018You have 20 positions? Maybe we can send five.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The Xinhua News Agency reportedly has 120 correspondents abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how many are actually doing that kind of work is highly confidential,\u201d the contact said. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he didn\u2019t think the agents would need to engage in \u201cillegal methods\u201d to gather information.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a reporter you get access to all kinds of people anyway, so it\u2019s not like you\u2019d really have to engage in illegal activity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In one of Dechert\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201cflirtatious\u201d emails in April last year, for example, he notes that Shi interviewed officials at the Royal Bank of Canada.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether Dechert acted as a go-between to help Shi organize the interviews, but he asks helpfully, \u201cDid you get enough information for your articles?\u201d<\/p>\n

About three weeks later Xinhua promoted Shi\u2019s article on how the Royal Bank weathered the 2008 financial crisis to emerge stronger, as an \u201cexclusive\u201d based on access to two top senior executives.<\/p>\n

Shi graduated from Peking University. In a 2005 article she wrote that she has worked for Xinhua since 1998. Once a \u201cvisiting scholar\u201d in the U.K., she had an internship at Reuters, where she developed an interest in the oil industry.<\/p>\n

But Xinhua reporters\u2019 responsibilities \u2014 and influence \u2014 can go well beyond simply reporting news to the public.<\/p>\n

At home and abroad they are asked to write special reports that are called \u201cinternal reference,\u201d some of which can be read by the public. Others can be read only by Communist Party officials or, for the most important, only very senior leaders. These reports normally run 70 to 80 pages per day.<\/p>\n

But what might attract a Xinhua reporter in Canada to Dechert?<\/p>\n

CSIS analyst Cole notes that there\u2019s much to recommend Dechert as a target for espionage.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mid-level, middle-aged government official with access to information. He\u2019s married, which creates another entry point for blackmail,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat\u2019s key is not so much the position or rank, but rather his access.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis lack of judgment, using his government email . . . points to weaknesses that would have been identified by a professional intelligence agency,\u201d says Cole. \u201cThe Chinese are past masters at this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Dechert isn\u2019t actually on the Asia-Pacific desk doesn\u2019t matter, says Cole. Dechert actually works on North American matters for the Foreign Minister.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a lot in that portfolio that the Chinese would like to learn, he notes.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/article\/1053288<\/p>\n

Dechert\u2019s emails should spark reminders about security, expert says<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published On Tue Sep 13 2011<\/p>\n

Bruce Campion-Smith
\nOttawa Bureau chief<\/p>\n

OTTAWA \u2014 Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird continues to stand by embattled MP Bob Dechert for his flirty emails with a Chinese reporter but behind the scenes Tory politicians need a reminder about the potential dangers of flirting with foreign agents, a security expert warns.<\/p>\n

The electronic liaisons should spark concerns because Chinese journalists \u201care not necessarily what they appear to be or that they might occupy more than one function,\u201d Wesley Wark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might not be journalists in a purely Western sense,\u201d said Wark, a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa\u2019s graduate school of public and international affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are known cases in the past where Chinese media representatives have clearly been fronting for Chinese intelligence. That very much fits the modus operandi of Chinese intelligence,\u201d Wark said.<\/p>\n

In addition to its Toronto office, China\u2019s Xinhua news agency also has a bureau in Ottawa. It has sent one of its journalists along on Prime Minister Stephen Harper\u2019s annual Arctic trips during the last two years. Other journalists on the trip recall the Xinhua reporter as an enthusiastic picture-taker, keenly snapping photos during stops across the north, notably of the military aircraft used to transport the tour.<\/p>\n

Publicly, the Conservatives have been feigning indifference over the incident, with Baird calling attention to the story \u201cridiculous.\u201d On Tuesday, he again backed Dechert, saying he had little more to say on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, there\u2019s a lot of smoke and no fire in the Dechert case. There\u2019s no suggestion that he betrayed state secrets or was asked to do,\u201d Wark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the cautionary message has to be that … there\u2019s always the possibility that someone is trying to develop you in what might appear as purely innocent or even romantic friendship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how intelligence services work when they want to put politicians into a position where they might be compromised or might be prepared to give up information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wark said Dechert\u2019s emails evoke memories of the security misstep of Maxime Bernier, who was forced to resign as foreign affairs minister in 2008 after it was revealed that he had left secret documents at his girlfriend\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

In the wake of that incident, internal security was stepped up along with a warning driven home to MPs that they need to be \u201cvery sensitive of potential threats to security,\u201d Wark said<\/p>\n

Wark wonders if the Conservatives have forgotten the lessons from Bernier\u2019s security lapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that behind the scenes and quietly there is a further reminder being put out at a very high level that we have to take this very seriously,\u201d Wark said.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/politics\/article\/1053170–dechert-s-emails-should-spark-reminders-about-security-expert-says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese envoy decries \u2018irresponsible\u2019 coverage of Tory MP\u2019s e-mail affair STEVEN CHASE OTTAWA\u2014 Globe and Mail Update Posted on Wednesday, September 14…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[92,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23719,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23714\/revisions\/23719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}