Taiwan offers Canadian government 'assistance' in fighting Chinese interference

The Taiwanese government has reportedly offered Canada assistance in combating foreign interference by the People's Republic of China (PRC) — having also dealt with their fair share of intrusion.

On September 6, Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu confirmed that his government engaged Ottawa on Chinese interference, offering insight into withstanding decades of Chinese intimidation.

Beijing subsidiaries, including the United Front, have had an active foothold in Canadian democracy over the past several years, allegedly funding election interference networks.

On Thursday, the federal government finally announced a commissioner to lead a public inquiry amid ongoing pushback from Opposition parties to review Chinese interference independently. 

So far, concrete legislative reforms have yet to take place to implement a foreign agent registry.

"Would Taiwan, as such an experienced counter-actor to United Front warfare, be willing to work with Canada's government providing advice and recommendations?" a reporter with The Bureau asked Wu.

"And could you also tell me what kind of actions Canada could take to implement the proper defences?"

The CCP official declared “persona non-grata” by the federal government attended ceremonies with community association leaders who are now being investigated for operating a “Chinese police station” on Canadian soil.

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"Canada is a very good friend of Taiwan, there's no doubt about it, [but] I have to be careful in giving the Canadian government any advice," said Wu.

While Taiwan's foreign minister said cooperation between both nations is trending positively, he praised Canada for taking a much more "proactive posture" on China.

"The Chinese influence, especially the United Front tactics or using its people, its immigration, the diaspora community in Canada or other countries is a very serious matter for us to deal with," added Wu.

They've also had to contend with Chinese infiltration into Taiwanese media using 'disinformation' campaigns. "That is something we have been guarding very carefully about," said Wu.

"Even though we don't want to dampen any of the freedom of speech here in Taiwan, we have to guard very carefully [against the] diaspora community, [who are] loyal to China rather than the countries they live in. 

That also includes Canada, he said.

When former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu claimed that part of his electoral defeat in 2021 was because he had been targeted by foreign influence from China, his critics summed up the claims as the cry of a sore loser.

Some have since apologized.

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As part of the Chinese disinformation campaign, Wu said, "They [Beijing] may focus on the diaspora community [to] affect the politicians that they […] elect to change the national discussions on major issues."

"And since Taiwan has been facing a campaign of infiltration […] for quite some time, the way we deal with it is on the government side. We have to respond to any wrong accusation or wrong information in a very speedy way."

Wu told reporters they would engage with Canada "so that we can share our experiences with our friends."

This is a developing story.