An organization founded by Senator Yuen Pau Woo has received over a million dollars from the federal government. It used Senate resources to broadcast a protest against a foreign agent registry.

The official Senate channel was used by the ACCT Foundation to broadcast a pro-Chinese Communist Party protest against a foreign agent registry on June 24th.

Parliament Hill in Ottawa was the site of a historical event on June 24^th, 2023 – the Commemoration of the Chinese Immigration Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Act was introduced on July 1^st, 1923 by the Canadian government, and was a culmination of anti-Chinese policies that had been steadily increasing in Canada since the 19^th century. The Act prohibited immigration specifically of Chinese citizens based on their race alone, the reunification of families, and, amongst other things, required all Chinese to register with the government and carry identification on them lest they risk fines, detention, or deportation. Even natural-born Chinese citizens needed to register with the government and carry a card identifying them as being of Chinese descent. The appalling piece of legislature was finally repealed on May 14^th , 1947. The well-attended event in June marked the 100 year anniversary of the introduction of this Act, and a celebration in reflection of the widespread harms it caused was held in remembrance.

While reflecting on this racist piece of legislation and the damage that it caused is undoubtably a worthy cause and worthy of government support, the ceremony was unfortunately marred and its importance somewhat overshadowed by a troubling undercurrent: a parallel drawn between the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the introduction of a new foreign agent registry.

Calls for a FARA-type (Foreign Agents Registration Act) piece of legislation have been echoed for years in Canada, and amplified as of late given claims and reporting of foreign interference. The United States has had one since 1938. The premise is relatively simple: it requires citizens engaged in political activities or others lobbying on behalf of foreign entities to disclose the nature of their relationship with the foreign entity, and details of their activities, financials, and other disbursements. If you violate those terms, it becomes a punishable criminal offence. Straightforward, common-sense, democracy-defending sort of stuff.

One such bill was once introduced by Conservative MP Kenny Chiu. He was reportedly attacked through various online platforms linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and ultimately lost his seat in the 2021 election, which he contests was due to a campaign by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to defeat him. He was unseated by Liberal contestant Parm Bains, who was reportedly courted by Chinese diplomats that attended various events with him. Consul-General Tong Xiaoling (佟晓玲) went so far as to openly boast of defeating two Conservative MPs (Kenny Chiu and Alice Wong), as reported in a Globe and Mail story based on leaked (CSIS) intelligence documents. It really doesn’t get more brazen than that.

Bains also reportedly amplified pro-Beijing messaging during his campaign to help create suspicion around Chiu’s private member’s bill, stating “To me, it looks like a very discriminatory type of policy.” WeChat messages boosted this speculation, posturing that a FARA or the Canadian equivalent would unduly discriminate against Chinese-Canadians, despite there being no evidence that that would be the case. A FARA would apply to all countries equally; that it would target the chief offenders aiming to interfere in our democracy and its democratic processes is on them, not the legislation.

“Although the bill doesn’t list which countries belong to the foreign forces, considering the soured relationship between Canada and China…(and Chiu’s) anti-China background, undoubtedly this bill is targeting mainland Chinese associations and aims to control or monitor mainland Chinese speech and behaviours,” read one post.

It might be important to note here that calling Chiu “anti-China” is rather laughable; he is Chinese, having immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1982.

Now, in 2023 – many years after it first became apparent that it was necessary - we still lack this vital piece of legislation, and if certain players get their way, we never will.

There is good, hard evidence in favour of a well-coordinated attack campaign against a foreign agent registry.

The petition against it came first. Launched by activist Ally (Li) Wang (王立), Petition E-4395 reads in part as follows: “We do not believe that a foreign influence registry will meaningfully address intimidation of Canadians and other kinds of foreign interference. A registry is a misleading way to identify sources of foreign influence. It is difficult to distinguish between positive and malign foreign influence, which goes well beyond agents who are acting for foreign governments.”

Wang is also the head of the Chinese Canadians GoTo Vote Association (加拿大華裔投票促進會), a Chinese-Canadian voting alliance that previously threw their weight behind Liberal candidate Parm Bains to help flip Conservative Kenny Chiu’s Richmond riding.

The GoTo Vote Association, according to its website, is partnered with the Wenzhou Friendship Society, which is currently under RCMP investigation as being one of the overseas police stations, although no charges have been laid yet. It gained notoriety in 2016 when its director, Miaofei Pan, hosted cash for access fundraisers with Justin Trudeau at his West Vancouver mansion. The fundraisers would later be investigated for illegal lobbying, and a journalist who covered the event was sued by defamation by Pan afterwards. Representatives attend meetings with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), an overseas initiative that has grown under Xi Jinping’s leadership, to exert the Chinese Communist Party’s influence abroad. Public Safety Canada identifies the UFWD as a potential foreign interference tool and national security threat. It’s hardly surprising they would be linked to an association petitioning against a Foreign Agents Registry Act. Such legislation might apply to some of their members.

The petition was sponsored by Liberal MP Chandra Arya, who attended an event opposing a foreign agent registry with Montreal’s top diplomat, Consul-General Dai Yuming (戴玉明), along with Senator Woo. It would be reported first in Found In Translation’s Substack, and then later in the Epoch Times, that the petition was not drafted by Ally Wang at all, but rather that it was actually mostly written by Senator Woo.

“At the request of organizers across the country, I helped to draft the petition,” Woo told The Epoch Times. Who the “organizers” were was not specified.

The petition was quickly spread through WeChat channels, along with familiar messaging reminiscent of that which plagued Kenny Chiu’s campaign; that it would discriminate unduly against Chinese citizens.

Something else was spread as well, largely through WeChat and by Chinese-state affiliated Canadian media organizations, along with calls to “oppose a modern day Chinese Exclusion Act” – a poster featuring the commemoration ceremony to take place on Parliament Hill on June 24^th, with calls to participate.

Senator Victor Oh and Senator Yuen Pau Woo were the chief sponsors of the event. Oh reportedly rented buses to bring protestors to Parliament Hill.  Some WeChat messages indicated protestors were offered compensation to attend, which brings to mind former allegations that claimed the Wenzhou Friendship Society compensated voters back in 2018.

Instructions released before the event had strict rules for attendees: posts reminded participants to not chant “red slogans” (in favour of the CCP), not to waive the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) flag, and not to mention or circulate the petition against proposed foreign agent registry legislation. Earlier messaging had indicated pushback against a registry was indeed the underlying motivator for the event, but the messaging was changed by organizers after that was brought to light. Despite the strict instructions, some protestors engaged in a People’s Liberation Army-styled military march to the anthem of the Chinese military group while donning old Beijing Olympic jackets as uniforms.

Demonstrators arrived on the Hill with coordinated signage, splattered with various phrases such as “We support David Johnston,” “We Condemn Racism,” and “Oppose False Media Reporting” – messages that have been parroted by Senators Woo and Oh as they have pushed back against tougher foreign interference laws. Senator Oh was recently captured on video stating that he intended to start a fund in order to sue reporters that “smear Chinese people,” a threat not to be taken lightly from a sitting politician with friends in high places. Senator Oh has reportedly taken more travel “gifts” from the PRC regime than any other parliamentarian.

The entire event was broadcast by an organization called the ACCT (Action, Chinese Canadians Together) Foundation over the official Senate Zoom channel. The ACCT is sponsored by the Canadian federal government through the Canadian Heritage department, and it was created in 2017 to “build the capacity of Chinese Canadian leaders committed to creating a more equitable society in Canada.”

It was unclear why a non-profit was broadcasting what was in essence a veiled pro-Beijing protest against foreign interference intervention, but it makes more sense when you realize a founding member of the foundation is Senator Woo. The non-profit has received over a million dollars in federal contracts since 2020 alone to “combat anti-Asian racism.”

Documents show that funding in 2017 to kick off the foundation was provided by now Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly under an “Inter-Action” funding program provided by the Canadian Heritage department. The ACCT was allocated $158,000 in funding, which was celebrated at a ceremony attended to by Senator Woo, Liberal MP Mélanie Joly, and Deputy Consul General Gao Zhenting (高振廷), amongst others.

A statement on foreign interference allegations on the ACCT Foundation’s website parrots Senator Woo and Oh’s statements: “We are troubled that the current dialogue arose from leaks from unknown sources and spread through innuendo. As a result this issue is now highly sensationalized and reputational and physical harm amongst those within the Chinese Canadian community is a real possibility. Our discourse must always be evidence-based, not just conjectures.

Finally, we ask those who have made allegations of foreign interference to provide the evidence they relied on in making such allegations to the proper authorities and we encourage our media reporting this issue to carefully weigh whether the information they have in their possession support the allegation of interference or whether the information they have demonstrates influence operations during an election campaign in Canada.”

In other words – watch out journalists and whistleblowers. We are coming for you.

That official Senate resources would be coopted by a non-profit created with taxpayer resources in collaboration with Chinese diplomats is nothing short of outrageous, even more so given that the channel was used as a megaphone to covertly protest against a FARA. No non-profit should be siphoning government resources in this fashion, and the way in which this one has allowed its messaging to be crafted to arouse suspicion against journalists is appalling.

The ACCT Foundation is exploiting the diaspora it is supposed to be protecting and spreading fear within it while boosting pro-CCP messaging. It’s a predatory practice at best, and further isolates a vulnerable community which may face language barriers, thereby making it even more receptive to increased influence through a language most Canadians don’t use.

In short – it’s a deplorable tactic used by deplorable people.

David Johnston’s report, which has been highly praised by foreign-language media outlets backed behind the scenes by Chinese-state media, claimed that after his review that there were “no networks” that could be traced back to a coordinated campaign by the PRC. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that protestors came armed with placards supporting him to the protest.

Respectfully, Special Rapporteur Johnston, I beg to differ.