China has expelled a Canadian diplomat in retaliation for Ottawa’s sacking of a Chinese diplomat accused of trying to intimidate a Canadian MP.

On Monday, Canada declared Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei persona non grata and ordered her to leave the country.

In response, China on Tuesday ordered Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lynn Lalonde fired from its consulate in Shanghai.

“China reserves the right to further respond,” Beijing said in a statement.

The two diplomats have five days to leave the country.

The censorship marks a significant deterioration in Ottawa-Beijing relations following reports of alleged Chinese political interference in Canada.

Canada had accused China of targeting its opposition lawmaker Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong after Mr Chong accused China of human rights abuses.

Last Thursday, Canada summoned the Chinese ambassador to reiterate that Canada would not tolerate interference in its affairs.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strained since the arrest of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada in 2018 on fraud charges in the United States, and the subsequent arrest by Beijing of two Canadians on espionage charges. All three were released in 2021.

At the time, China insisted the two cases were unrelated, but critics accused Beijing of using Canadians as a political bargaining chip.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday declared Mr. Zhao “persona non grata,” a Latin term for an “undesirable person.”

China called the move “ruthless” and told Ms Lalonde the same – it was a “mutual countermeasure”.

Ottawa’s decision follows a Canadian intelligence report published in the Globe and Mail newspaper that accused Mr Zhao of helping gather information about Mr Chong, 51, after he harshly criticized China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority.

Canada’s spy agency believes China has sought details on Mr Chong’s relatives in Hong Kong to deter “anti-China sentiments”.

The politician introduced a motion in parliament in 2021 that declared China’s treatment of the Uighurs a genocide. China denied the allegations and sanctioned Mr Chong shortly thereafter.

Ms Joly said on Monday that Canada “will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs” and that the decision to expel the diplomat “was made after careful consideration of all factors involved”.

Canada’s espionage agency has since been ordered to immediately release information about the threats against MPs and their families.

“China strongly condemns and strongly opposes this and has made serious demarches and strong protests towards Canada,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Last week, China accused Canada of “slander and defamation” over allegations that Beijing was targeting Mr Chong and his family.

Mr Chong, a Tory, criticized the ruling Liberals for their mishandling of the case, saying on Monday: “It should not have taken the Government two years to make this decision.”

The allegations come amid other intelligence reports leaked to Canadian media accusing China of trying to interfere in Canada’s elections.

In March, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of an independent special rapporteur to investigate allegations of interference.

BBC