Canada Allowed Chinese Troops on Canadian Soil To Observe Military Exercises
Canada is not a military superpower, and now we know why: The country’s gullible leaders apparently don’t understand that its military operations are supposed to be kept secret from potential enemies of the state.
In a shocking revelation, Canada’s Department of National Defence has confirmed that it allowed communist China’s army onto Canadian soil to observe its winter training exercises in February 2018, the Toronto Sun reported.
The DND claimed that members of the People’s Liberation Army only observed and did not participate in any training — as if that minimizes the potential threat to national security.
“We do not train with the PLA,” a DND rep told the Sun. “However, based on an agreement signed in 2013, there has been the occasional, reciprocal granting of observer-status for non-sensitive activities, including winter survival exercises.”
Canadians might not be as naive as their leaders. A reader poll with the Sun’s article asked, “Should troops from communist China have been invited to observe military operations in Canada?” More than that 97 percent voted “no.”
Because Canada shares more than 5,500 miles of border with the United States, this lapse of military judgment also potentially endangers Americans’ national security.
Tensions have been brewing between Canada and the Chinese Communist Party since December 2018.
Nine days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on charges brought by the United States, China retaliated by detaining Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. The “Two Michaels” remain in prison two years later, accused of espionage.
At the time of her arrest, Wanzhou was the chief financial officer of the telecom giant. She’s also the daughter of Huawei’s founder, Chinese billionaire Ren Zhengfei.
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As a result of these dueling arrests, Canada and the CCP did not hold reciprocal observer-status activities in 2019 or 2020.
Last year, explosive documents revealed a disturbing link between Huawei and the Chinese military — something about which President Donald Trump has repeatedly sounded the alarm.
“Several Huawei Technologies Co. employees have collaborated on research projects with Chinese armed forces personnel, indicating closer ties to the country’s military than previously acknowledged by the smartphone and networking powerhouse,” Bloomberg reported in June 2019.
“Over the course of the last decade, people identified as Huawei employees have collaborated with military researchers on at least 10 research projects,” Vice.com said. “[T]he documents give more credence to White House claims that Huawei is a threat to U.S. national security due to its close relationship with the Chinese military.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pointed to the threat of pervasive infiltration of communist ideology in the United States by agents of the CCP.
During a Feb. 8 speech at the National Governors Association meeting, Pompeo warned that Chinese agents are influencing U.S. foreign policy by infiltrating the U.S. government, media, universities and think-tanks.
He noted that the Chinese government monitors all American governors as well as local and national politicians to promote its influence on American policies.
“Last year, a Chinese Government-backed think tank in Beijing produced a report that assessed all 50 of America’s governors on their attitudes towards China,” Pompeo said. “Many of you are referenced by name in that report.”
He added that “the Chinese government has been methodical in the way it’s analyzed our system. It’s assessed our vulnerabilities and it’s decided to exploit our freedoms, to gain an advantage over us at the federal level, the state level and the local level.”
Pompeo’s dire warnings appeared to have been confirmed with an Axios report earlier this month that said Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and other politicians were targeted by a communist “honeypot” spy for years.
With the Chinese working so hard to infiltrate our government and exploit our public officials, we don’t need our neighbor to the north making it any easier for them.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
