Ex-ambassador blames Beijing ‘kneecapping’ as Canadian parliament’s China committee is shut down
- The Special Committee on Canada-China Relations had been a thorn in Beijing’s side, but the Conservative opposition says it will not seek its revival
- Former diplomat David Mulroney blamed the decision on a Chinese foreign-influence operation, while Canadian Senator Yuen Pau Woo praised the committee’s end
Canadian critics of the Chinese government are decrying the demise of a parliamentary committee that had been a thorn in Beijing’s side since 2019, with a former ambassador calling it a “kneecapping” by China and the result of a foreign-influence operation.
David Mulroney, Canada’s Beijing envoy from 2009 to 2012, directly attributed the decision by the Conservative opposition not to reconvene the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, to the party’s losses in heavily Chinese electorates in September’s elections.
He said these stemmed in turn from attacks on the party’s tough-on-China platform, that he believed were directed or inspired by Beijing.
“Rather than fight it, the Conservatives are backing down,” Mulroney said on Tuesday. “The irony is that the one place Canadians were likely to hear about Chinese influence operations is shutting down because of a Chinese influence operation.”
Although Canadian attitudes towards China have hardened in recent years, the committee’s efforts have not been universally appreciated; Senator Yuen Pau Woo, an independent from British Columbia, hailed its exit, saying some members’ questioning had been “McCarthyist”.
