Canadian intelligence flagged Chinese meddling 37 years ago: newly released report
CTV
A newly released document shows intelligence officials have been tracking China's attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs for more than one-third of a century.
A newly released document shows intelligence officials have been tracking China's attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs for more than one-third of a century.
The February 1986 intelligence report warned that Beijing was using open political tactics and secret operations to influence and exploit the Chinese diaspora in Canada.
It said China was using new and potentially more potent techniques to accomplish these goals.
The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the report, called "China/Canada: Interference in the Chinese Canadian Community," produced by the federal Intelligence Advisory Committee.
Much of the document remains secret on the grounds disclosure could harm the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities.
Release of the heavily redacted report comes amid pressure on the Liberal government to hold an inquiry into foreign interference in Canada following a series of leaks to the media about purported meddling by China.
The 1986 committee report "demonstrates that this issue has been on the radar of Canadian intelligence for decades," said Alan Barnes, a former intelligence analyst who is now a senior fellow with Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.
