A newly released document reveals that Canadian intelligence officials have been tracking China’s attempts to interfere in Canadian affairs for nearly 40 years.

The Canadian press used the Access to Information Act to get the titled report China/Canada: Interference in the Sino-Canadian communitycreated by the Federal Intelligence Advisory Committee in 1986.

This intelligence report has already warned Canada about Chinese political tactics and covert influence operations to exploit the country’s Chinese diaspora.

It stated that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was using new and possibly more powerful techniques to achieve these goals and that it was doing so continued his efforts to influence the many large overseas Chinese communities and exploit these communities for his economic and political gain both in Canada and elsewhere in the West.

Much of the document is redacted on the grounds that its disclosure could harm the conduct of international affairs, the defense of Canada, or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activity.

A long-standing concern

The 1986 report shows that this issue has been on Canadian intelligence’s radar for decadessaid Alan Barnes, a former intelligence analyst and now senior researcher at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs from Carleton University.

Mr. Barnes, who discovered the document’s title during a recent archival search, indicates that the Intelligence Advisory Committee was chaired by the Federal Coordinator for Security and Intelligence in the Privy Council Office.

His reports were sent to a variety of high-ranking government officialsexplains Mr Barnes on this subject.

The researcher adds that the partial release of the intelligence report, 37 years after its creation, underscores the need for Canada to put in place an appropriate system for declassifying historical intelligence and security records after a certain period of time.

Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes (five eyes), which includes the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, where there is no process for declassifying historical documents, he notes.

No accident

Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for China Democracy, is not surprised by the report. He claims to have been aware of China’s efforts to induce individuals and groups to interfere in Canadian affairs since the early 1980s, although it has done so a very low level at that time.

They knew what they were trying to do. It wasn’t a coincidencehe said in an interview.

Mr. Kwan believes that Beijing stepped up efforts to influence Chinese communities in Canada after the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989 in order to restore its badly damaged image.

Referring to the released report, he added that while it certainly helps document the history of China’s plans for interference, it essentially makes sense to focus solely on this document Look back, not forward.

A recent report

The report’s release comes amid pressure on the Liberal government to launch an investigation into foreign interference in Canada after a series of media leaks of alleged Chinese interference.

Media leaks from unnamed security sources about alleged attempts by China to interfere in the last two general elections have prompted federal Liberals to explain what Canada is doing in response to those attempts.

In recent years, the federal government and its security agencies have begun to openly indicate that Beijing is particularly active in foreign interference activities against Canada.

Chinese government officials have consistently denied any interference in Canadian affairs. In connection with this, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, William Majcher, was arrested by police on Friday RCMP and is blamedPerforming preparatory acts on behalf of a foreign entity and conspiracy.