“Canada has decided to declare Zhao Wei persona non grata,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said in a statement.
“We will not tolerate any form of interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behavior, they will be expelled,” the statement added.
The Chinese diplomat’s expulsion follows Canadian MP Michael Chung’s denunciation of a Globe and Mail newspaper article last week that the government turned a blind eye to Beijing’s interference in Canadian affairs.
The newspaper cited confidential documents and an unnamed security source as saying China’s intelligence agency planned to target Chung and his relatives in Hong Kong with sanctions, due to his vote in February 2021 in favor of a law condemning Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide.
He quoted a Canadian intelligence document that said, “This will almost certainly set an example for the MP and deter others from taking a stand against the People’s Republic of China.
On Monday, Beijing said Canada had “sabotaged” relations between the two countries by expelling the Chinese diplomat, vowing to take “countermeasures”.
“The Chinese side will take firm countermeasures, and all consequences thereof will be the responsibility of the Canadian side,” said a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Canada, calling on Ottawa to “step out of the abyss.” .
Beijing last week condemned what it called a “groundless slander and defamation” of Canada, which summoned China’s ambassador to Ottawa over the case.
China’s foreign ministry denied any wrongdoing and said the case had been “inflated” by some Canadian politicians and media.
Canadian Prime Minister Jason Trudeau has faced growing pressure to toughen his stance on Beijing, following reports revealing Chinese efforts to influence the results of Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021.
The charges, which Beijing denies, are the subject of ongoing sessions by a parliamentary committee and investigations by the Canadian Elections Agency, according to Agence France-Presse.
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