
The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal electionāan election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.
One week before Canadians head to the polls, Ottawa has confirmed an escalation in Chinaās election interference efforts, identifying Conservative candidate Joseph Tay as the target of a widespread and highly coordinated ongoing transnational repression campaign tied to the Peopleās Republic of China.
The SITE Task ForceāCanadaās agency monitoring information threats during the electionāformally disclosed today that Tay, the Conservative Party candidate for Don Valley North, is the victim of inauthentic online amplification, digital suppression, and reputational targeting orchestrated by networks aligned with Beijingās foreign influence operations.
The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal electionāan election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.
āThis is not about a single post going viral,ā SITE warned. āIt is a series of deliberate and persistent activity across multiple platformsāa coordinated attempt to distort visibility, suppress legitimate discourse, and shape the information environment for Chinese-speaking voters in Canada.ā
SITE said the most recent coordinated activity occurred in late March, when a Facebook post appeared denigrating Tayās candidacy. āPosts like this one appeared en masse on March 24 and 25 and appear to be timed for the Conservative Partyās announcement that Tay would run in Don Valley North,ā SITE stated in briefing materials.
One post, circulated widely in Chinese-language spaces, featured an image that read: āWanted for national security reasons, Joe Tay looks to run for a seat in the Canadian Parliament; a successful bid would be a disaster. Is Canada about to become a fugitiveās paradise?ā
Significantly, according toĀ The Bureauās analysis, the postās message resembles earlier remarks made by then-Liberal MP Paul Chiang to a small group of Chinese journalists in Toronto in Januaryācomments made shortly after Tayās inclusion on a Hong Kong bounty list was first publicized.
Chiang reportedly told the journalists that Tayās election would raise significant concern due to the bounty he faced, before suggesting that Tay could be turned over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
Tay, a Hong Kong-born human rights advocate, was named in December 2024 by Hong Kong authorities as one of six overseas dissidents subject to an international arrest warrant and monetary bounty. His photograph appeared on a wanted list offering cash rewards for information leading to his captureāan unprecedented move that Canadian officials condemned as a threat to national sovereignty.
āThe decision by Hong Kong to issue international bounties and cancel the passports of democracy activists and former Hong Kong lawmakers is deplorable,ā SITEĀ stated today.Ā āThis attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroadāincluding by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canadaāwill not be tolerated.ā
However, while facing an international wave of criticism, Prime Minister Mark Carney did tolerate his candidateās alleged role in this activity. When asked earlier in the campaign whether he stood by Chiang, Carney said the Liberal MP retained his confidence. Chiang ultimately stepped down only after the RCMP confirmed it was reviewing the matter.
Chiang, who had been endorsed by Prime Minister Carney, was replaced as the Liberal candidate by Peter Yuen, the former Deputy Chief of the Toronto Police Service.
AsĀ The BureauĀ previously reported, Yuen traveled to Beijing in 2015 with a delegation of Ontario Chinese community leaders and politicians to attend a major military parade hosted by President Xi Jinping and the Peopleās Liberation Armyāan event commemorating the Chinese Communist Partyās Second World War victory over Japan.
Yuenās presence at that eventāand his subsequent appearances at diaspora galas alongside leaders from the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), a group cited in national security reportingāhas drawn media scrutiny.
Both Chiang and Yuen have stated that they strongly support Canadaās rule of law and deny any involvement in inappropriate activities.
According to SITEās findings, Tayās campaign has been the focus of two parallel strands of foreign influence since the beginning of the writ period. The first involves inauthentic and coordinated amplification of content related to Tayās Hong Kong arrest warrant, including repeated efforts to cast doubt on his fitness for office. This activity has spanned multiple platforms commonly used by Chinese-speaking Canadians, including WeChat, Facebook, TikTok, RedNote, and Douyin.
The second strand is a deliberate suppression of Tayās name in both simplified and traditional Chinese on platforms based in the Peopleās Republic of China. When users attempt to search for Tay, the platforms return only information related to the Hong Kong bountyāeffectively erasing his campaign content and political biography from the digital public square.
While SITE noted that engagement levels with the disinformation remained limited, the timing, repetition, and cross-platform consistency led the Task Force to conclude this is a serious case of foreign interference.
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