What's Behind the Latest Diplomatic Spat Between China and Canada?

Alex Millson and Stephen Wicary
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- China and Canada have found themselves embroiled in a fast-escalating spat, following newspaper revelations that Beijing had targeted a Canadian lawmaker over his critical views about the country.

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It’s just the latest diplomatic altercation between the two nations, which saw ties unravel in 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei Technologies Co. Meng Wanzhou as part of a US-led extradition effort and China detained two Canadians on suspicion of spying. While Meng and the Canadians have since been released, ties between Beijing and Ottawa remain frosty.

In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping confronted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, accusing him of leaking details of a private meeting.

Here’s what the latest spat is about and how diplomats from either side got expelled:

1. How did the latest Canada-China spat begin?

The dispute started when the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper reported on May 1 that the nation’s intelligence services had uncovered threats against lawmaker Michael Chong and his Hong Kong-based family, in retaliation for a motion passed in Canada's parliament in 2021 that branded China's treatment of its ethnic Uyghur minority as “genocide.” The report, citing a top-secret intelligence assessment and an unnamed national security source, said diplomat Zhao Wei had gathered information on Chong, who represents a district west of Toronto.

2. What threats were made?

Beijing was looking to penalize Chong for his position on China — he had sponsored the parliamentary motion — and that punishments could include sanctioning relatives in Hong Kong, according to the newspaper. The report cited the spy agency document as saying Beijing was “almost certainly meant to make an example of this MP and deter others from taking anti-PRC positions.”

3. What effect did the revelations have?

The report sparked a firestorm in Canada, with Chong furious that he hadn’t been notified sooner by the intelligence agency. Trudeau told reporters he hadn’t been briefed on the matter. It later emerged that at least one of Trudeau’s security advisers had been informed, even if the prime minister himself had not.

4. What did Canada do next?

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Zhao, an official at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, would be declared persona non grata and expelled. “We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs,” Joly said in a statement on May 8.

5. How did China respond?

China similarly gave Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lalonde three days to leave the country’s consulate in Shanghai, calling the move a “reciprocal countermeasure” to Canada’s “unreasonable behavior.”

6. What happens next?

Trudeau will continue to face political heat over his handling of the matter and why he didn't act faster. Later this month, he's due to receive a recommendation from a special rapporteur on whether allegations of Chinese interference into Canadian elections warrant a public inquiry. China’s next move is unclear, but Canadian industry groups are bracing for potential economic retaliation. “Regardless of what next choices they make, we will not be intimidated,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on May 9.

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