The return of Hong Kong to China by the British resulted in a mass migration (prior to the handover date in 1997) of Chinese entrepreneurs who did not want to live under Communism. This stream of political and economic refugees to the West provided cover for criminals and for members of China’s intelligence services to penetrate Canada. (1)
The joint RCMP-CSIS investigation into this massive threat to Canada’s economic and military security, known as “Operation Sidewinder”, culminated in 1997’s Sidewinder report on “Chinese Intelligence Services and Triads Financial Links in Canada.” (2)
The word “Sidewinder” was used deliberately. The Sindwinder is a venomous pit-viper species found in the southwestern United States,. The word referred to the serious danger that a significant number of Chinese posed to Canada.
The targets in this on-going enterprise were largely military and economic, chosen to obtain financial and political influence in the Canadian economy and government, and to obtain high-tech information of use to the People’s Liberation Army.
The Sidewinder Report explored the extent to which the People’s Republic of China had succeeded in penetrating Canada. It was never released because of the explosive political implications, and the fear of a backlash from the hundreds of thousands of Canadian citizens of Chinese origin.
Sidewinder was ignored, and all copies destroyed – except for one, which a disgruntled analyst leaked to the press in a traditional brown envelope.
Sidewinder addresses the People’s Liberation Army’s use of the cover provided by the Hong Kong emigrants into Canada to insert intelligence operatives who set up businesses for a variety of purposes.
Canadian Forces defence contracts could be awarded to companies controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, and companies under Chinese government control could obtain research grants from the Canadian government, then ship the fruits of the research to China after we had paid for it.
Canada’s generosity, business-friendly policies and research subsidies, made us a sitting-duck target for China to exploit and to take almost unlimited advantage of.
And, of course, companies under Chinese government control routinely obtain political influence in Canada by making donations to our major political parties.
Here are two other examples of Mainland China’s sinister infiltration.
The Teck corporation, for example, which describes itself as “Canada’s largest diversified mining company”, donated $2.3 million to the B.C. Liberals in 2015, and interestingly enough, in July of this year, Dermod Travis of Integrity BC drew attention to Teck’s appointment of a “Chinese government official” to Teck’s board of directors in April. Mr. Travis stated : “You have an official with a foreign government who is sitting on the board of a public company in Canada… There are a lot of people in China they could have chosen, and the fact this individual is a member of the government should set off alarm bells.” (3).
In 2012, a recently-arrived Chinese “temporary worker” hired by HD Mining International Limited filed a human rights complaint against the United Steelworkers over their campaign to stop the bringing-in of temporaries (Temporary Foreign Workers) to work for HD, saying that union leaflets and content on the union’s website were “likely to create contempt for Chinese people” (4).
The corporation itself also threatened to sue the federal government for damages over public statements made by Ministers of The Crown about the company.
