Canada stated that a misinformation campaign targeting one of its parliament members was detected by it on the Chinese instant-messaging app WeChat.
Conservative politician Michael Chong allegedly emerged as the target of posts sharing “misleading narratives” about the leader’s political views, background, and family heritage.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) stated that it is “highly probable” that China has been orchestrating the WeChat campaign against him. The accusations have been denied by China.
Canadian officials rarely come ahead with information related to foreign interference. The recent allegations were revealed in a rare statement by GAC on Wednesday (August 9).
The department cautioned that it is not easy to trace the origin of the attacks because of the campaign’s nature.
“Unequivocal proof that China ordered and directed the operation is not possible to determine due to the covert nature of how social media networks are leveraged in this type of information campaign,” it stated.
Chinese embassy calls accusations ‘purely groundless’
The latest step is part of the wider series of claims which were made in recent months by Canadian intelligence agencies and officials that Beijing has been interfering in the elections of Canada.
GAC said that attacks against Chong were uncovered while monitoring social media and the internet’s other parts for foreign interference ahead of a 19 June by-election. The attacks were seen emerging from news accounts on WeChat which amplified falsehoods about Chong.
They claimed that the attacks appeared co-ordinated and abnormal in volume. The GAC stated that one-third of the accounts which were amplifying the attacks were either accounts likely linked to the Chinese state or state-media outlets. The rest accounts were anonymous and no previous posts were made about Canadian politics.
The Chinese embassy in Canada, in a statement to the BBC, called the accusations “purely groundless”. “We never interfere in Canada’s internal affairs, and have no interests whatsoever in doing so,” the statement stated.
GAC stated that it will be speaking to Chinese representatives in Canada regarding the posts, adding that “Canada will never accept any form of interference in our democracy or internal affairs”.
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Chong, in a media statement on Wednesday (August 9), called the campaign against him “another serious example of the communist government in Beijing attempting to interfere in our democracy by targeting elected officials”.
In the past, Canada has accused China of targeting both Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong after he emphasised the human rights abuses in China.
(With inputs from agencies)
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