Conservatives say credibility of foreign interference probe undermined by denying them full standing in first phase

The Official Opposition is criticizing the judge running the public inquiry into foreign interference for not granting the Conservative Party full standing in the first phase of this probe, a decision that means they cannot ask questions of witnesses or gain access to any secret evidence gathered.

The first part of the foreign interference inquiry will examine foreign interference by states such as China in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The second phase will examine what reforms are necessary to fight foreign interference.

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Forest City: Inside Malaysia’s Chinese-built ‘ghost city’

“I managed to escape this place,” Nazmi Hanafiah laughs, slightly nervously.

A year ago, the 30-year-old IT engineer moved to Forest City, a sprawling Chinese-built housing complex in Johor, on the tip of southern Malaysia. He rented a one-bedroom flat in a tower block overlooking the sea.

After six months, he’d had enough. He didn’t want to continue living in what he calls “a ghost town”.

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He Won Election to Canada’s Parliament. Did China Help?

A Canadian rapporteur said there was “well-grounded suspicion” that Han Dong, a member of Parliament from Toronto, may have benefited from support from the Chinese Consulate.

The newcomer landed in a district of northern Toronto and announced his bid for Canada’s Parliament. Though few knew him, an important factor helped offset his lack of name recognition — the backing of prominent local Chinese-Canadians.

“I’m very happy that I feel very well supported, surrounded by friends,” the candidate, Han Dong, said at a news conference.

But a government-appointed special rapporteur said there was “well-grounded suspicion” Mr. Dong also had help from a hidden source as he vied for the Liberal Party’s nomination: the Chinese Consulate.

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Montreal-area ‘Chinese police stations’ threaten to sue RCMP for $2.5 million

Two Chinese community centres in the Montreal area are threatening to launch a $2.5 million lawsuit against the RCMP after being accused by the police force of hosting “alleged Chinese police stations.”

The RCMP confirmed in March(opens in a new tab) it had opened an investigation into the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal, in Montreal’s Chinatown, and the Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud, in Brossard, on the South Shore of Montreal.

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Should We Fund the ‘Nazis’ of the 21st Century?

They certainly cannot be happy in Beijing. An exceedingly technical administrative decision in Washington, D.C. will soon result in investors pulling tens of billions of dollars in investments from a cash-strapped China.

On November 14, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board changed the benchmark for the Thrift Savings Plan’s International Stock Index Investment Fund, better known as the I Fund.

Previously, the I Fund tracked the MSCI Europe, Australasia and Far East Index. The Thrift Board decided on November 14th instead to track the MSCI All Country World ex USA ex China ex Hong Kong Investible Market Index.

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CSIS report says China infiltrated Provincial and Federal Party leadership races in 2022

A senior Canadian politician running to lead a provincial political party clandestinely met officials inside a Chinese Consulate in 2022, subsequently becoming China’s preferred candidate, and winning campaign support from Consulate proxies, a Top Secret CSIS document alleges.

Details of the Consulate meeting are contained in a sweeping CSIS “Intelligence Assessment” dated October 31, 2022.

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CSIS warns of Chinese recruitment campaign targeting Canadian government employees

Canada’s spy agency is warning of a Chinese plot to recruit Canadian government officials and academics.

In an alert sent to federal employees earlier this month and seen by CBC News, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warns of a large-scale email campaign trying to lure workers into an overseas talent program.

“The [People’s Republic of China] is likely using this recruitment campaign to acquire Canadian knowledge and expertise,” says the alert.

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Freed China detainee Michael Kovrig breaks silence, says allegations linked to Michael Spavor are ‘baffling’ and ‘hurtful’

OTTAWA—Michael Kovrig, the former Canadian diplomat whose detention in China caused a global uproar, is breaking his silence to make it clear: he was not, and never has been, a spy.

In an exclusive series of interviews with the Star, Kovrig pushed back at a recent media report that alleges fellow detainee, Canadian Michael Spavor, is claiming he was duped by Kovrig into giving up information on North Korea, which Spavor claims is the reason he was arrested.

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Fentanyl is changing the world of warfare

US wants China to stop exporting ingredients while Iran and Russia look to weaponise the drug

There is a suspicion in the United States that China has been mounting a revenge attack for the humiliating western-led 19th-century Opium Wars. How else to explain the fact that Beijing’s all-seeing state has allowed Chinese companies to export the ingredients for the high-powered synthetic drug fentanyl that is killing young Americans?

About 70,000 died of fentanyl overdose last year; it is regarded as 50 times as potent as heroin with the pills easily smuggled into the US via the Mexican cartels.

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China decries Canada’s ‘hypocrisy’ after Spavor blames Kovrig for their detention

Beijing has defended its prosecution of two Canadians for espionage, after The Globe and Mail reported that Michael Spavor blames intelligence work done by Michael Kovrig for their nearly three-year-long detention.

Mr. Spavor is seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement from Ottawa, two sources told The Globe, alleging he was arrested in China in late 2018 because he unwittingly provided intelligence on North Korea to Mr. Kovrig, which was later shared with Canada and allied spy services.

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The ‘Suicidal Mania’ of American CEOs

Dozens of businessmen paid homage to Xi Jinping last week.

They gave a standing ovation to the current leader of what may be the most murderous political organization in world history. Dozens of American business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Boeing CEO Stan Deal, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Visa executive Ryan McInerney, were on hand in San Francisco to pay homage to Xi Jinping, president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), at a dinner in San Francisco hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Xi had earlier met with President Joe Biden, who later described their talks as “some of the most constructive and productive we’ve had.” At the dinner, Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the American business leaders: “All of you here this evening remain keenly interested to do business in China, and to find ways to advance our bilateral economic relationship.” Raimondo said she knew this “because half of you have come to see me to tell me that.” We are witnessing part II of what the great James Burnham called “the suicidal mania of American business.”

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Urgently Needed: An Economic and National Security ‘War Cabinet’

Voters in a small Michigan township ousted their entire township board over the board’s support for building a Michigan-taxpayer subsidized, Chinese battery manufacturing plant in their midst. History might not remember them as among the first Americans to take a stand against the creeping Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence growing in the United States, but their vote should serve as a historic and valiant wake-up call for all Americans and their leaders.

How then should their leaders respond to the valid concerns over the threat posed by the CCP’s efforts in America?

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Study Unveils Toronto Universities’ Risky Partnerships With China on AI, High-Tech Weaponry

A recent study reveals hundreds of publications from Toronto universities collaborating with Chinese academic institutions linked to the military on sensitive research. A former intelligence officer said the ongoing partnerships signal an incentive gap in curbing such practices.

The study, released in October by the Frontier Assessments Unit (FAU), identified a total of 371 publications from collaborations between Canadian universities and seven Chinese academies known as the “Seven Sons of National Defence” due to their strong affiliations with the People’s Liberation Army, the primary military force of communist China.

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Freeland to Testify at Committee on Canada’s Funding to Beijing-Led Infrastructure Bank

A House of Commons committee is set to question Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland about Canada’s dealings with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which has been accused of being under the influence of Beijing. This comes five months after Ms. Freeland’s commitment to suspend collaboration with the bank.

MPs voted in favour of an Oct. 23 motion asking the House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations to invite the Minister of Finance to appear as a witness in its examination of “Canada’s freeze in government-led activity” with the AIIB, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

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