Former MP Kenny Chiu Says Rival’s Attack Statement ‘Mirrors’ Foreign Regime Disinformation

Former Tory MP Kenny Chiu, whose 2021 defeat has been central to the Foreign Interference Commission’s probe into China’s election meddling, says the commission’s final report has been misrepresented in a fresh allegation from a fellow party nomination contender.

An outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses, Chiu became the “target of false narratives” related to his proposal for a foreign influence registry, according to the commission’s final report published on Jan. 28.

These false narratives, alleging Chiu as “racist” and “anti-China,” circulated on the Chinese social media platform WeChat and were also promoted by media with known links to the Beijing regime and its state media during the 2021 federal election, the report said.

Chiu, who is seeking the Conservative Party nomination for the B.C. riding of Richmond East-Steveston, raised concerns about narratives being revived against him by a fellow contender.

In a recent news release, former Tory MP Wai Young called Chiu “divisive” and accused him of making comments that, she said, led to increased “Asian hate and racism” against residents in the Vancouver suburb. The release, titled “No Evidence of Foreign Interference,” was sent via email on Jan. 30, days after the foreign interference commission published its final report.

After calling for “healing and unity” in the riding, Young goes on to say, “Kenny Chiu has caused a giant rift in our community, creating suspicion amongst different immigrant groups, leading to some being viewed as ’second class citizens.’”

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Hogue has said that while foreign interference didn’t change the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 elections, it may have impacted the results in a small number of ridings.

“Judge Hogue has repeatedly indicated that the ‘significant, insidious and difficult to detect’ foreign interference presents ‘a reasonable possibility’ that the Steveston-Richmond East is the only riding’s election result that could have been impacted,” Chiu said.

“Wai Young’s misrepresentation is not just wrong and misleading—it’s dangerous. It signals to hostile foreign powers that Canada is unwilling to confront interference,” he added.

The Hogue commission, launched in September 2023, was mandated to investigate foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 general elections, following media reports about Beijing’s efforts to influence Canadian politics.

The commission reviewed a June 2024 report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians that said some parliamentarians have been “semi-witting or witting” participants in foreign states’ efforts to interfere in Canada.

While Hogue said in the final report that she found no evidence of “traitors” in Parliament plotting with foreign states against Canada, she did not rule out that “results in a small number of ridings were affected” by foreign interference.

Chiu disputed Young’s claim that concerns about foreign interference have been resolved, saying she ignored the Conservative Party’s being among those targeted by false narrative disinformation in 2021. He also pointed out that many Chinese-Canadians were targeted and harassed by foreign state actors, something he said Young has not acknowledged.

“Instead of standing up for Canada, Young is doing the work of foreign authoritarian regimes by dismissing concerns of interference and silencing those who raise them.” Chiu said. “Her rhetoric—that discussions of foreign interference are ‘racist’ or ‘divisive’—mirrors the exact language used by foreign regimes to shut down dissent and intimidate critics.”

The Epoch Times contacted Young for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

According to Hogue, OCCE investigators found indications that Chinese officials “gave impetus and direction to an anti-Conservative Party campaign,” which she said was later carried out and amplified by various associations and individuals using different communication channels.

During the 2021 election, the Conservatives, then led by Erin O’Toole, had an extensive section in its platform on how to counter China’s aggressions and rights abuses. The commission noted in its report that O’Toole and the Conservatives Party were targets of China’s misinformation campaigns because of their stance on Beijing.

The commissioner said the government was aware of such online narratives and has shared the information with the Panel of Five, an advisory group within the government’s Special Intelligence and Threats Task Force. However, she disputed the panel’s view that the media ecosystem had largely corrected itself after Chiu addressed the false narratives and that similar disinformation targeting former Conservative leader O’Toole had lost traction before election day.

“I am not convinced by the idea of a self-cleansing media ecosystem,” Hogue wrote. “By the time disinformation fades away, it may often be too late. The damage to the democratic process or to those targeted may already be done.”

Chiu called for further action to counter foreign interference, noting that the Hogue report did not close the book on the issue, but rather confirmed that the threat is real.

“The only people who benefit from shutting down this conversation are the foreign actors attempting to influence Canadian democracy. In the face of mounting storms, we must unite to brave the tempest,” he said.