1 week Ago By Postmedia News
Article content The only thing surprising about Beijing’s dictators wanting Liberal leader Mark Carney to win the April 28 election is that anyone would be surprised by it. As Conservative MP Michael Chong — an actual “target” of Chinese disinformation — put it in the wake of Canadian security and intelligence officials revealing China’s attempt to promote the prime minister’s campaign on Chinese-language social media: “(China) knows that for a decade the Liberals have turned a blind eye to Beijing’s interference in Canada’s democracy. “They know the Liberals have stood by as Beijing interfered in our democracy, targeted and harassed our citizens and threatened Canada’s interests at home and abroad.
” Canada’s Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) said the campaign of mostly positive coverage about Carney on Youli-Youmian, the most popular news site on the Chinese-language social-media platform WeChat, was artificially spread through an organized campaign by smaller WeChat accounts. SITE said Youli-Youmian is linked to China’s ruling communist party and the “foreign state-backed operation was intended to influence Canadian Chinese communities and looked to mold perceptions about (Carney).” RECOMMENDED VIDEO While some of it was neutral or moderately critical of Carney, overall, Charles Burton, a Canadian diplomat and academic who spent years in China and has written extensively on Canada-China relations, said on ‘X’: “I read the WeChat document in question.
It is not ‘targeting Mr. Carney’ (as some media reported). It is strongly supporting him” variously describing him as “The only adult in the room” and a “Rock star economist.
” Then there are Carney’s extensive business dealings with China when he was in the private sector — meetings with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, to promote trade and obtain a $276-million loan by the state-controlled Bank of China for Brookfield Asset Management when Carney was chairman. Carney has also been accused of being too close to China after he refused to toss Liberal MP Paul Chiang out of the party for saying a Conservative opponent in his Toronto-area riding could be delivered to the Chinese consulate in Toronto to claim a bounty. Chiang subsequently announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
None of this means Carney sought China’s endorsement but it’s hardly shocking China would prefer Carney as Canada’s prime minister, as opposed to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre..
