Tensions between China and Canada climbed additional after every expelled a diplomat over allegations that Beijing sought to intimidate a lawmaker.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry requested a Canadian diplomat from Shanghai to depart China, proper after Canada expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei.
“On May 9, the Canadian government declared a diplomat of the Consulate-General of China in Toronto persona non grata. China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged serious démarches and strong protest to Canada,” stated a press release from Beijing.
“As a reciprocal countermeasure in reaction to Canada’s unscrupulous move, China decides to declare Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai persona non grata, who has been asked to leave China before May 13.”
The spat comes after the Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing a top-secret doc from 2021, that the Chinese authorities was focusing on Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong and his household in Hong Kong after he sponsored a parliamentary movement condemning Beijing’s conduct in Xinjiang as genocide.
According to the report, Zhao was concerned, which sparked calls by Chong for his expulsion.
The controversy raises tensions within the already strained relations between the 2 nations.
“We will not tolerate any interference in our internal affairs,” Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly introduced.
China’s Foreign Ministry in the meantime reserved the appropriate to take additional motion.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
