Chinese Canadian community leaders remain tight-lipped on sweeping protests in China

They are often fast to pledge their support for the Chinese government.

Chinese Canadian community leaders are keeping a unanimous silence about the sweeping protests in China over the past weekend.  

From Nov. 25 to 27, 2022, unprecedented protests erupted all over China after a tragic fire in a residential building in Xinjiang killed 10 people due to China’s cruel Covid lockdown measures. People in 10+ major cities and 100+ universities took to the streets to shout out their opposition to the Chinese government, and their anger quickly escalated to something serious and some people demanded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its top leader Xi Jinping, to step down.

It is the largest social unrest in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, and Chinese people’s incredible courage has been echoed in many cities in other countries, including Canada. On the evenings of Nov. 27 and 28, hundreds and thousands of people gathered to demonstrate their support in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Halifax. Most of these people are overseas Chinese.

Chinese Canadians protest before China’s Consulate General in Toronto. Image source: Radio Free Asia

A number of world leaders have voiced their support for the freedom-loving Chinese people, including the Biden government's cautious statement, and UK PM Rishi Sunak’s strident rebuttal against the Chinese government after a BBC journalist was brutally arrested and assaulted while reporting the protest.

This morning, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, also expressed his support for the Chinese protesters at a rush interview on his way to another meeting.  

Inty @__Inty__

加拿大特鲁多：“在中国，每个人都应该被允许表达自己，分享他们的观点，并进行抗议。我们将继续确保中国知道我们支持人权。”

He said, “Obviously everyone in China should be allowed to express themselves…. should be allowed to share their perspectives and indeed, protest. We’ll continue to ensure China knows we’ll stand up for human rights. We’ll stand with people who are expressing themselves. ”

Conservative MPs Michael Chong and Garnett Genuis tweeted out their support as well.

Michael Chong 🇨🇦 @MichaelChongMP

Conservatives support the brave Chinese protesting. Their courage is an inspiration to all people fighting for freedom & democracy. They remind us that these universal values are for all. We remember the Tiananmen Square massacre of 5 June 1989. The world is watching. #cdnpoli

Garnett Genuis @GarnettGenuis

Seeing the courage of the people of China right now is incredibly inspiring. In spite of an Orwellian system of constant surveillance and evaluation, people are out on the streets showing their faces and denouncing oppression. I hope they win. #FreeChina #cdnpoli

In the meantime, there is complete silence among the Chinese community leaders who love to provide guidance for the community on political issues. None of them have spoken out to express their support (or opposition) for the protests in their motherland. 

Guo Ding 丁果, a highly productive commentator in Vancouver, has not produced any commentaries on this news. But in the past, Ding has been very prompt in response to major political incidents. For example, he quickly churned out pieces condemning the U.S. House Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, supporting Beijing’s draconian National Security in Hong Kong, strongly opposing Canada’s Foreign Influence Registry legislation, and lending his warm support to Senator Yuen Pao Woo. 

Guo Ding (left) and Senator Yuen Pao Woo. Image source: Canada Committee 100 Society

Ding has a long track record of defending Beijing when there are conflicts between China and Canada, or when China is criticized by the international community for its human rights violations.  

Ding’s latest piece was published on Rise Weekly last Saturday (Nov. 26), the day when China’s protests became top news in the world’s mainstream media. But his piece didn’t mention anything about the protest. Instead, in the piece headlined “Why did Trudeau flip-flop?”, Ding claimed the Canadian media and intelligence agency’s discussion of foreign interference “witch-hunting” in the Chinese Canadian community, and said it would harm Canada’s national interests.

Ding touts himself to be a good friend of B.C. Premier David Eby, and Eby has interacted with Ding a number of times. Eby asked Ding for suggestions when he was considering running in the BC NDP leadership race a few months ago, and has written a preface for Ding’s book. 

Leaders at CTCCO (Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations), an umbrella organization in Toronto, are muted as well. CTCCO’s permanent honorary chairman Wei Chengyi 魏成义 and its current chairman Weng Guoning 翁国宁, haven’t released any statement, nor have they held any rallies or press conferences.

During the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, Wei and Weng, along with former Ontario minister Michael Chan, implemented an impressive rally in Toronto to support the Hong Kong police crackdown on the protest. Weng carried out large-scale events to support the Beijing Olympics in early 2022, and CTCCO has published a statement to deny the existence of genocide in Xinjiang, China in 2021.  

On the CTCCO’s website, the latest news in the past 3 days is about MP Mary Ng’s affirmation of fighting against anti-Asian hate crimes, the establishment of a new Chinese friendship organization, and a dinner party sponsored by a construction company.

Tina Zhu 朱九如, founder and president of the Canada-China Friendship Promotion Association (CCFPA), didn’t say anything about the protest, nor did she update anything on the CCFPA’s WeChat channel.

But she was very fast to show up in court to support Yuesheng Wang, the Hydro-Québec employee charged with spying for China. Zhu was also very vocal to English media about how racist Wang’s case is, and she posted a long article defending Wang on the CCFPA’s WeChat account.

A group of Chinese youth held a solidarity protest in Montreal on Sunday (Nov. 27), but Zhu never showed up. The location was at Norman Bethune Square, where Zhu organized an event in mid-2021 soliciting the Canadian general public to sign a petition to release Meng Wanzhou. 

Leaders at CACA (Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations) and CCSA (Canadian Community Service Association), two major umbrella groups in B.C., have absolutely no words about the Chinese protests. 

Dozens of Chinese Canadian organizations that released joint statements in recent years to support China’s National Security Law in HK, the continuance of the Confucius Institute in Toronto, the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, the Taiwan Issue White Paper, or the release of Meng Wanzhou, haven’t released anything yet regarding the massive protests in China.  

It has been five days after the deadly fire in Xinjiang that triggered the flooding waves of uprisings in China, but the Chinese community leaders all mysteriously kept their mouths shut.

What are they waiting for?