Canada: Chinese agency involved in espionage, says Federal Court
Feb 26, 2022
Ottawa [Canada], February 26 : Chinese government's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) has been held to be involved in espionage "that harms Canada's interests," a report said on Wednesday.
Justice Vanessa Rochester, a Federal Court judge in a judicial review said that it was reasonable to conclude the OCAO was involved in espionage given the evidence available to the officer, reported National Post.
The court was hearing an application challenging the denial of citizenship to a Chinese couple who had worked for OCAO in China for 20 years. The court upheld the denial of citizenship saying that it was reasonable "given the evidence available to the officer," said the report.
OCAO is an agency under the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The organization claims to provide support to members of the Chinese diaspora.
The organization has not been publicly called-out despite its longstanding efforts to influence and monitor Chinese Canadians, the report said citing Charles Burton, a former diplomat in Beijing and a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
"It's about time we stopped dodging the question and confront the fact that there is Chinese spying and espionage and harassment of dissidents in this country," said Cheuk Kwan of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China as quoted by the National Post.
"The Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) both have advised the government about interference by such Chinese organizations," Burton said, adding further, "but politicians tend to suppress the information for fear of undermining trade between the two countries."
