By Canadian Press

Chinese embassy decries ‘baseless and defamatory’ interference claims

Mar 1, 2023 | 10:46 AM

OTTAWA — China’s embassy in Ottawa is denying reports of attempted election interference in Canada, saying the claims are “baseless and defamatory” and harm diplomatic relations.

The Liberal government has come under pressure in recent weeks to explain what Canada is doing about allegations of Chinese meddling in the last two federal elections, after they were spelled out in anonymous leaks to the media from security sources.

“China has always been firmly against any attempts to interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs,” reads a statement the embassy emailed to The Canadian Press.

“We are not interested in meddling with Canada’s internal affairs, nor have we ever tried to do so.”

The embassy says all its consulates follow the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which includes “a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state” where diplomats reside.

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The embassy also says it has bilateral agreements with Canada that hold diplomats to behaving “in an open and above-reproach manner” in each other’s country.

In the statement, the embassy accused some Canadian agencies, as well as media outlets, of creating and spreading “disinformation” about China and “poisoning the media atmosphere” about the country.

It urged everyone to “stop stigmatizing Chinese consulates and personnel that performed their normal duties.”

The House of Commons procedural affairs committee is scheduled to hear from national-security officials Wednesday afternoon about allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

On Tuesday, a report evaluating how an independent panel monitored the 2021 election said the federal government should explore lowering the threshold for when to notify Canadians about potential interference in election campaigns.

The independent report by former civil servant Morris Rosenberg nonetheless found that the protocol designed to inform Canadians in the event of threats to the 2021 federal election worked well overall.

But he made several recommendations on better informing Canadians about what the panel created by the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol would consider cause for concern.

He also urged further study on whether to lower the bar on when to tell Canadians about potential threats.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2023.

The Canadian Press