OTTAWA — Han Dong, the MP at the center of allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian affairs, left the Liberal faction Wednesday night and will now sit as an independent MP for Ontario’s Don Valley North riding.

“I am taking this extraordinary step because it is a privilege to serve in the ruling group,” Mr Dong said in the House of Commons on Wednesday night.

“My presence there may be misrepresented by some as an independent inquiry is investigating this case.”

According to revelations from Global News, Mr Han Dong is said to have privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat to delay the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Both Michaels spent more than a thousand days behind bars in China before being released in 2021.

At the time, the two Canadian men had been jailed in China for just over two years in apparent retaliation for the December 2018 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a United States extradition order.

Global News reported that Mr Dong told the Chinese consul-general that the release of the two men would benefit opposition conservatives, but also that it would help liberals show some “progress” on the case.

Speaking to the House of Commons on Wednesday night, MK Han Dong claimed that the claims in the report were untrue.

The Canadian press has not been able to independently verify the claims.

Han Dong, MP for Don Valley North since 2019, told Global News that he met with China’s consul-general but struggled with how the conversation about the men known as “two Michaels” was characterized.

“Let me be clear, what has been reported is false and I will defend myself against these absolutely false claims,” ​​he told the House of Commons, visibly shaken.

“Let me assure you, as a parliamentarian and as a person, that I have never advocated or supported violations of the basic human rights of any Canadian or anyone,” he said.

In his speech, which ended in tears, Mr Dong also addressed MM Kovrig and Spavor and their families.

“I did nothing to hurt her,” he said.

“Like all MPs, I worked hard and defended their interests as MPs,” added the new independent MP.

The prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Global News that the prime minister’s office was unaware of the February 2021 call until Mr Dong briefed the office after receiving questions from the media.