China's Foreign Ministry on Friday (5/5) angrily protested a Canadian intelligence report that Chinese diplomats attempted to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker over his criticism of Beijing.

Beijing's harsh comments came after Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly summoned China's ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, on Thursday (4/5) and said she was considering expelling the diplomat.

The 2021 Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report, first published this week in a newspaper article Toronto Globe and Mail. The article stated that, according to Canadian intelligence, opposition lawmaker Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong were targeted (intimidated) after Chong criticized China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority.

The report identified a Chinese diplomat based in Toronto as allegedly responsible for the intimidation.

The CSIS intelligence agency also said Beijing attempted to influence the outcome of the 2019 Canadian federal election.

Speaking before lawmakers on Thursday, Joly said such Chinese interference could not be tolerated, and he assured parliament that action would be taken, including the possible expulsion of diplomats.

At a regular press briefing Friday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning called the allegations in the intelligence report “completely absurd,” “baseless slander” and “defamation”. He said the Chinese ambassador, when summoned to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lodged a strong protest.

The report also sparked controversy in Canadian political circles. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday he first learned about the threats against Chong and his family through news reports. Globe and Mail.

He said that when he questioned CSIS, the intelligence agency said the information did not meet “credibility standards” to be passed to it.

The agency notified Chong in 2021, but the lawmaker said he was not informed of the threats against him or his family, saying he instead learned about them in detail through daily reports. Globe and Mail.

The issue came up for debate in the Canadian Parliament on Thursday (4/5), as members of Trudeau's Liberal Party insisted that Chong, a member of the opposition Conservative Party, was in fact at aware of the report details from the beginning.

On Wednesday, Trudeau insisted that in the future, any intelligence reports that specifically mention threats against MPs or their families must be published and those parties must be informed.

Relations between Canada and China have been strained in recent years. In 2021, China released two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – who had been detained by China for almost three years.

Their espionage arrests came in late 2018, less than two weeks after Canadian authorities arrested Chinese entrepreneur and Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. government arrest warrant linked to business dealings. with companies in Iran. [pp/ft]

Some information in this report comes from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.