Why hasn't Canada expelled the Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu?
Although Canada is likely to expel a Chinese diplomat or two in the coming days, it is Cong who needs to go.
IS A FUTURE WAR OVER TAIWAN WINNABLE BY EITHER CHINA OR THE US?
The Globe and Mail reported recently that Canada's Security Intelligence Service, CSIS, found that China had attempted to locate family members of Michael Chong, a parliamentarian from the opposition Conservative Party. The Ministry of State Security wanted to identify Chong's family members on the mainland so that they could be targeted for retaliation over his advocacy against China's genocide against the Uyghur people. In 2021, Chong was sanctioned by China for speaking out. CSIS says the location effort was supported by a diplomat in Ottawa (and likely Chinese intelligence officer), Zhao Wei.
The targeting of a parliamentarian's family in retaliation for lawful democratic activities isn't just unacceptable — it's an outrage.
So far, however, no meaningful action has been taken by the Canadian government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims he didn't even know about the Chinese activity and has tried to avoid addressing the issue. Instead, Canada's response has consisted only of a formal complaint to Ambassador Cong. This pathetic lack of action underlines why CSIS has assessed that China views its Canada-focused interference as "low-risk and high-reward" and is likely to continue with that interference "absent real disincentives" from Ottawa.
Put simply, the Chinese believe that Canada is weak because Trudeau has behaved weakly. Emphasizing as much, Beijing is showing the opposite of contrition. Speaking on Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said her government's leaders "deplore and reject the Canadian side’s groundless smear." She added that when it came to sanctioning Chong, "China’s strong response is fully justified and necessary."
Trudeau's lack of leadership here explains why China is so confident.
The days when Trudeau actually took a stand against Beijing's excesses, as with Canada's detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, are long gone. Trudeau now embarrasses himself by begging Xi for new trade deals. Xi's response has been clear: beg more. Watch this remarkable video of a meeting of the two leaders at the Nov. 2022 G-20 summit in which Xi openly derides Trudeau, humiliating him in public.
Trudeau's weakness extends beyond that. He has openly told fellow NATO leaders that Canada will never meet the 2%-of-GDP minimum defense spending target, for example.
It's clear that Trudeau is happy to live off the back of American defense spending while boosting welfare spending at home. Canada's neglect of its defense budget was recently highlighted when the U.S. Air Force had to shoot down an unidentified flying object over Canadian airspace.
And what's at stake here is more than Canada's national pride. One of its elected representatives and his family have been viciously targeted, simply because that parliamentarian was doing his job. If Canada doesn't send China's ambassador home, China will only double down on its aggression.