Michael Chong was targeted by smear campaign on Chinese app: Foreign Affairs

Global Affairs Canada believes Conservative MP Michael Chong has been the victim of a foreign smear campaign, which the department suspects was conducted by Beijing.

The department said a co-ordinated network of news accounts on the social-media app WeChat posted a large volume of false or misleading narratives about Chong from May 4 to 13.

WeChat is one of the most popular apps in China and many Chinese speakers in Canada use it to keep up with friends and read news.

Global Affairs Canada said it stumbled across the postings this spring as part of an ongoing project to monitor foreign manipulation on social media, primarily linked to Russia.

The project, dubbed the rapid response mechanism, was monitoring activity on social media in the lead-up to June byelections in ridings that did not include Chong's constituency.

The department said the information didn't represent a direct threat to Chong or his family, but it did make false claims about his background, political stances and relatives.

"Global Affairs Canada assesses it is highly probable that China played a role in the information operation," the group said in an analysis it released Wednesday.

"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," the department added in a news release.

China has rejected those claims.

The report released Wednesday cites co-ordinated content and timing, "highly suspicious and abnormal shifts in volume and scope of engagement" in the posts and a "concealment of state involvement."

While the report doesn't say how many posts were involved, it notes one-third came from Chinese state-media outlets, while the rest were anonymous accounts that had not previously published any news stories on Canadian politics.

The department estimated between two and five million WeChat users across the world would have seen the postings, but did not estimate how many were inside Canada.

The alleged network increased exposure to the postings by republishing or interacting with each others' posts, amplifying them to more users.

The department said the postings likely violated the app's rules on false information and co-ordinated, inauthentic behaviour, but analysts "found no indication WeChat attempted to apply its own content-moderation standards."

Global Affairs Canada said it plans to raise the issue with Chinese diplomats in Ottawa, adding that this type of activity can dissuade people from entering politics or prevent MPs from performing their duties.

When asked about the WeChat activity, China's embassy in Ottawa rejected claims that Beijing meddles in domestic issues.

"China is opposed to any interference in a country's internal affairs. We never interfere in Canada's internal affairs, and have no interest whatsoever in doing so," a spokesman wrote in an emailed statement Wednesday.

"It has been proved time and again that none of these accusations are based on facts, and they are trumped up with hidden agendas. China firmly opposes this."

The department said it briefed Chong about its findings on Wednesday and issued a new release shortly after.

In a statement, Chong said the investigation shows Beijing's interference in Canadian democracy and the inaction on the part of the Liberal government.

"Clearly more must be done to combat foreign interference from Beijing," he wrote, suggesting the government create a foreign-agent registry and remove of diplomats meddling in domestic affairs.

"This situation also again proves that we need an open, independent public inquiry into foreign interference and we need it now."

Chong is the Conservative foreign-affairs critic who has been outspoken about Beijing's human-rights record.

In May, the federal government confirmed a media report that CSIS had information in 2021 that the Chinese government was looking at ways to intimidate Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong.

The timeline of the WeChat postings surround the time of those reports and Ottawa's expulsion of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei for alleged involvement in targeting Chong's relatives.

WeChat has been asked for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.