{"id":86341,"date":"2025-04-14T20:52:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T01:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=86341"},"modified":"2025-04-14T20:52:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T01:52:42","slug":"20250414-%e8%87%aa%e7%94%b1%e5%85%9a%e5%80%99%e9%80%89%e4%ba%ba%e6%8e%a5%e5%8f%97%e4%b8%ad%e5%9b%bd%e9%82%80%e8%af%b7%e5%8f%82%e5%8a%a0%e5%86%9b%e9%98%9f%e5%ba%86%e7%a5%9d%e6%b4%bb%e5%8a%a8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=86341","title":{"rendered":"20250414\/\u81ea\u7531\u515a\u5019\u9009\u4eba\u63a5\u53d7\u4e2d\u56fd\u9080\u8bf7\u53c2\u52a0\u519b\u961f\u5e86\u795d\u6d3b\u52a8"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liberal candidate accepted invitation from China to celebrate People\u2019s Liberation Army event<\/strong>
\nRobert Fife Ottawa Bureau Chief
\nSteven Chase Senior parliamentary reporter
\nOttawa
\nPublished April 11, 2025
\nFor Subscribers
\nOpen this photo in gallery:
\nPeter Yuen, Liberal candidate for Markham-Unionville, attends a campaign event at Kennedy subway station in Scarborough, Ont., on Jan. 31.
\nLaura Proctor\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

A Liberal candidate running in a Greater Toronto Area riding, whose candidacy has come under scrutiny for ties to pro-Beijing groups, accepted an invitation from China to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People\u2019s Liberation Army victory over Japan in the Second World War.<\/p>\n

Peter Yuen, who has also been linked to Toronto\u2019s Chinese consulate, joined a group of about 70 Chinese Canadians for the Tiananmen Square celebration in September, 2015.<\/p>\n

The centrepiece of the event was a military parade featuring marching soldiers and 27 columns of weaponry and equipment from tanks to missile launchers.<\/p>\n

The PLA celebrations, attended by President Xi Jinping, took place in the vicinity of where army tanks rolled over prodemocracy students in 1989.<\/p>\n

At the time in 2015, Mr. Yuen was a superintendent with the Toronto Police. He later rose to deputy chief. The year before the trip to Beijing, China\u2019s consulate in Toronto held an event to mark Mr. Yuen\u2019s promotion to superintendent.<\/p>\n

A source, who was also invited and attended the 2015 event, said the Chinese consulate in Toronto picked which Canadians would be invited and its government paid for their Beijing accommodation but not air flights. The trip was arranged by the overseas arm of the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s United Front Work Department (UFWD), the source said.<\/p>\n

The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source, who fears repercussion for speaking out.<\/p>\n

Mr. Yuen was parachuted into the riding of Markham-Unionville in early April after Liberal MP Paul Chiang dropped out when it was revealed that he had suggested a Conservative politician and human-rights activist could be turned over to the Chinese consulate for a bounty. Mr. Chiang served with the York Regional Police before his election to the House of Commons in 2021.<\/p>\n

Liberal Leader Mark Carney denounced Mr. Chiang\u2019s comments but stood by the candidate before he ultimately bowed out earlier this month. Mr. Carney also backed Mr. Yuen\u2019s candidacy despite his connections to Beijing-friendly groups that have endorsed annexation of Taiwan and played down China\u2019s repression of its Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province.<\/p>\n

Mr. Yuen said in a statement, provided through the Liberal Party Friday, that his attendance at the PLA celebration was greenlit by the Toronto police department. Canada did not send any political ministers but was represented by then-Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy participation was expressly approved by the Toronto Police Service, as part of a broader effort to recognize the role of Canada and other allies in World War II,\u201d Mr. Yuen said.<\/p>\n

He declined to say if accommodation expenses were picked up. Nor did he respond to questions about why he was associating with organizations tied to the UFWD, which is responsible for propaganda, espionage and interference operations abroad, particularly in diaspora communities.<\/p>\n

CSIS has said that China\u2019s targeting of Canada\u2019s democratic institutions is \u201cprimarily motivated by a desire to cultivate relationships with or support political candidates and incumbents who seem receptive or actively promote PRC viewpoints,\u201d referring to the People\u2019s Republic of China. The Hogue public inquiry into foreign interference said in its final report that Beijing tries to \u201dcontrol and influence Chinese diaspora communities, shape international opinions and influence politicians to support PRC policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

As The Globe reported earlier this week, Mr. Yuen has also spoken at and attended events of the Toronto branch of Chinese Freemasons, which has advocated for what it calls the \u201cpeaceful reunification of China and Taiwan,\u201d a phrase rejected by the Taiwanese government, which contends that only the self-governing island can decide its own future. Ottawa\u2019s position is that it opposes the use of coercion or force to unilaterally change the status quo of Taiwan.<\/p>\n

In his statement Friday, Mr. Yuen said he believes in a \u201cstrong Canada that stands firm in its defence of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

As recently as April 10, Mr. Yuen was listed as honorary director on the website of the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada (JCCC), a Toronto-headquartered organization founded in 2002 with clear ties to China\u2019s UFWD.<\/p>\n

Mr. Yuen said in a statement Wednesday that his role with JCCC ended a decade ago. He declined to answer e-mailed questions from The Globe on whether he supports Taiwan\u2019s self-determination, condemns China\u2019s crimes against its Uyghur minority or disapproves of UFWD activities.<\/p>\n

Instead, he pointed to his career with the Toronto Police as his qualification to seek election to Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have built a great career committed to public service and have a track record of maintaining the health, safety and well-being of those in our community as Toronto\u2019s former Deputy Police Chief,\u201d he said in the e-mailed response sent by the Liberal Party.<\/p>\n

During the Liberal leadership race, Mr. Carney met executives of the JCCC, according to its website, which described the former central banker\u2019s entry into politics as \u201can important turning point in the upgrading of China-Canada relations.\u201d The Jiangsu council says on its website that \u201cin an in-depth exchange\u201d with two of its leaders, Mr. Carney \u201chighly praised the pioneering role of the Chinese business community in emerging fields such as clean technology, digital trade and financial technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney said Thursday he had never heard of this group, adding that he meets hundreds or thousands of people a day. The Liberal campaign sent a legal notice to the JCCC to remove information on its website about meeting with the Liberal Leader, saying this is incorrect.<\/p>\n

In December, 2021, then-JCCC president Jiang Rui travelled to Nanjing and met Li Guohua, an executive deputy director of the UFWD. A year later, Mr. Rui and another colleague participated in the Central Conference of the UFWD in Beijing, attended by the Chinese President. The Department of Public Safety in Canada says the UFWD attempts to \u201cstifle criticism, infiltrate foreign political parties, diaspora communities, universities and multinational corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The JCCC\u2019s stated aim is to promote trade, business co-operation and \u201cfriendly relations\u201d between Ontario and the Chinese province of Jiangsu and between Canada and China. Statements and actions by JCCC echo narratives pushed by Beijing that, according to Human Rights Watch, has deepened repression of its citizens under Mr. Xi\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/politics\/article-liberal-candidate-accepted-invitation-from-china-to-celebrate-peoples\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liberal candidate accepted invitation from China to celebrate People\u2019s Liberation Army event Robert Fife Ottawa Bureau Chief Steven Chase Senior parli…
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