On 21st October, a report was published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) saying the Canadian government has been helping China to hunt “fugitives” for decades. CBC, the public broadcaster for both Radio and Television in Canada, noted that the Chinese government assists Chinese law enforcement agencies in pursuing fugitive Chinese nationals outside China.
The report came to light at a time when India and Canada are experiencing a bitter relationship as Canada has over the years failed to extradite wanted Indian criminals living on Canadian soil, including the recently killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Notably, Canada has accused India of killing “Canadian citizen” Nijjar on Canadian soil, an allegation that India has categorically denied. The false accusations against India have worsened the relations between the two nations.
In its report, CBC pointed out that the revelations about Canada helping China came to the fore during an investigation by CBC’s The Fifth Estate.
Fugitives handed over in exchange for ‘trade negotiations’
During the investigation, former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) operations officer in British Columbia, Calvin Chrustie, said he had received directives from the “highest level in Ottawa” to cooperate with the Chinese officials regarding a “high-profile fugitive in the Vancouver area.” Notably, Chrustie said he declined to facilitate a meeting request sent by the Chinese officials who wanted to interview the alleged fugitive. The aim was to persuade them to return to China “voluntarily” and face prosecution.
The investigation further found that the Chinese government rewarded Canadian cooperation with “trade negotiations”, support in combating illegal drugs and facilitating the release of Canadians detained by the Chinese government.
Questionable methods of gathering evidence by China
Critics argued that due to the cooperation between the two countries, Canada often turned a blind eye to the lack of an independent judiciary and the use of coercion, including torture, in China to gather evidence. As per the legal experts, the reliability of the evidence provided by the Chinese authorities was often questionable.
CBC quoted immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman, who expressed concerns over the same. The legal experts pointed out that the evidence provided by Chinese authorities was obtained by questionable means, including torture and successful challenges in Canadian courts.
Illegal Chinese police stations in Canada
When The Fifth Estate tried to interview Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc over the matter, he categorically denied issuing any statement. Notably, in early 2023, there were concerns about the presence of alleged Chinese police stations in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. OpIndia published a report on this in October 2022.
The report suggested that China was operating “police stations” in several countries, including Canada and Ireland. The informal police stations were set up by Fuzhou police and affiliated with China’s Public Security Bureau (PSB). Three such police stations were found to be operating in the Greater Toronto Area.
Reportedly, China has been aggressively pursuing the return of allegedly corrupt officials and economic criminals who found a haven in foreign countries. The operations, known as Sky Net and Fox Hunt, were started by the Chinese authorities in 2014, resulting in the alleged return of thousands of “fugitives” to China. The state television in China often boasts about such returns.
However, according to the critics, Canada has reportedly ignored the lack of an independent judiciary and the use of coercion to gather evidence to facilitate the Chinese government in its hunt. Some Canadian officials have interviewed fugitives wanted by China to assess the extent of harassment and threats they face from Chinese authorities.
Notably, there is no extradition treaty between China and Canada. The Canadian government often use the immigration and refugee system to remove the so-called fugitives from its soil. Canadian officials present evidence at Immigration and Refugee Board hearings, some of which they receive from Chinese authorities.
During the investigation, The Fifth Estate found that the Canada-China cooperation for the fugitive hunt in the past two decades has been tied to other matters significant to Canada. For example, former ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques stated that Canada was willing to cooperate on repatriations in exchange for Chinese government assistance in curtailing the flow of fentanyl into Canada.
Interestingly, it was revealed that there were concerns that Chinese officials violated agreed-upon conditions during their visits to Canada. In some cases, Chinese investigators were caught engaging in unauthorised activities. These breaches raised questions about the credibility of Chinese assurances.
Cooperation between Canada and China started in 1999
The Canada-China cooperation to hunt Chinese fugitives dates back to 1999 when Chinese national Lai Changxing sought refuge in Canada. He was tied to a smuggling and corruption case in the Fujian province of China. The matter led to tensions between Canada and China. Lai Changxing was eventually returned to China in 2011 after assurances were made that he would not face torture or execution. However, his prolonged Canadian refugee claim had strained diplomatic relations between the two countries and laid the foundation for ongoing law enforcement cooperation.
Other notable names that came up during the investigation included Tao Mi, who might have faced threats and retribution from Chinese authorities after providing statements. Tao Mi had retracted her statement against Lai Changxing. She was reportedly interrogated at the Canadian consulate in Shanghai in the presence of a Chinese security official. A Federal Court Judge deemed the interrogation inappropriate, according to the report.
‘Canada is a safe haven for terrorists, extremists and organised crimes’
In a statement in September 2023, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, called Canada a “safe haven for terrorists, extremists and organised crimes”. India criticised Canada for its reputation as a safe haven for criminals and emphasised the need for Canada to address the reputational damage. India requested action against criminals and cooperation on extradition requests for over 20 individuals. The statement highlighted India’s concerns about Canada’s role in providing refuge to individuals facing terrorism charges.
