Canada has declared persona non grata an employee of the Chinese diplomatic mission who tried to obtain information for Beijing to intimidate a Canadian MP.
This was reported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Melanie Joly.
“Canada has decided to declare Zhao Wei persona non grata. I directly said that we will not tolerate any interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they participate in such activities, they will be sent home," Jolie noted.
Note that according to the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, which was recently leaked to the media, the Chinese intelligence agency was already trying to find relatives of a Canadian MP who were believed to be living in China in 2021 "for potential future actions."
An employee of the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, was entrusted with this task.
We are talking about MP from the opposition Conservative Party Michael Chong, who is one of the most vocal critics of the current government of the PRC and whose father comes from Hong Kong.
China condemned Canadaʼs decision and expelled the Canadian consul.
"The Chinese side strongly condemns and firmly denies this and has expressed a protest to the Canadian side," the Chinese embassy in Canada said in a statement.
The Chinese embassy emphasized that China "never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries."
"We call on the Canadian side to step back from the abyss and refrain from moving further down the wrong path. If the Canadian side acts baselessly and arbitrarily, it will face a decisive and firm reaction from China," the diplomatic service noted.
Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peopleʼs Republic of China informed about the expulsion of Canadaʼs consul in Shanghai Jennifer Lynn Lalonde. She was asked to leave China by May 13.