Canada will not be intimidated by China’s tit-for-tat expulsion of a Canadian consul in retaliation for Ottawa’s ejection of a Chinese official, Justin Trudeau has said.
Canada expelled the Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei on Tuesday over allegations he tried to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. Hours later, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said it would expel a Canadian diplomat from Shanghai in retaliation for what it called Ottawa’s “unreasonable actions”.
Speaking on Wednesday, Trudeau said: “We understand there is retaliation, but we will not be intimidated, we will continue to do everything necessary to keep Canadians protected from foreign interference.”
China’s ministry of foreign affairs announced late on Tuesday that Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, the top Canadian diplomat in Shanghai, has been asked to leave by 13 May, the ministry said, adding that China “reserves the right to take further actions in response”.
China’s move came hours after Zhao was declared “persona non grata” by Canada – a move which Beijing described as an attempt to “sabotage” bilateral relations.
“China strongly condemns and resolutely opposes this decision, and has made solemn representations and protests to the Canadian side,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
“In response to the unreasonable actions of the Canadian side, China has decided to take reciprocal countermeasures by classifying consul Jennifer Lynn Lalonde of the Canadian consulate general in Shanghai as a ‘persona non grata’ and has asked her to leave China by 13 May. China reserves the right to make further reactions.”
Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, had acknowledged the likelihood of punitive measures from Beijing when she addressed a parliamentary committee on Thursday, drawing parallels to the way in which two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were detained as retaliation for Canada arresting the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
“We decided that we needed to move forward in a responsible way to send a very clear message that we will not accept foreign interference and whatever next choices they make, we will not be intimidated,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.
The incident marks another low point in relations between the two countries, which have been tense since Meng was arrested in Vancouver in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians it accused of spying. All three were freed in 2021.
Diplomatic expulsions are rare in Canada, highlighting the seriousness with which Ottawa is viewing the situation. The last expulsion was in 2018, when Canada joined more than 20 allies in response to the nerve agent attack in the UK, expelling four Russian diplomats.
Details of the intelligence report came to light on 1 May, when Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported that China sought information about Chong and his family in China in a likely effort to “make an example” of him and deter others from taking positions against the Chinese government.
The Globe, citing an unnamed national security source, alleged Zhao was involved in gathering information about Chong, who in 2021 sponsored a successful motion declaring China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority to be genocide.
Chong said he was “profoundly disappointed” to find out about the potential threat to his family in Hong Kong from a newspaper, and criticized Trudeau’s government for inaction. He has repeatedly called for Zhao’s expulsion since the Globe report.
Trudeau said he found out about the intelligence report from the newspaper, and on Wednesday blamed the spy agency for not passing it on to him at the time.
China says it has never interfered in Canada’s internal affairs and has no interest in doing so. China’s Toronto consulate-general said the report on Chong has “no factual basis and is purely baseless”.
Additional research by Chi Hui Lin