Senator Victor Oh establishing foundation to raise funds to sue Canadian politicians and reporters who ‘smear Chinese people’
Beijing-aligned entities in Canada are gearing up their lawfare against Canadian critics.
Canadian Senator Victor Oh (胡子修) is planning to set up a foundation to raise money for legal actions against Canadian politicians and reporters who engage in what he perceives as 'smearing Chinese people', according to a video clip posted on the WeChat channel of the North America Literature and Art Association (NALAA, 北美文苑)’, a Chinese community organization based in Canada.
Senator Oh disclosed his plan to sue fellow Canadians at an event urging people to oppose Canada’s foreign agent registry
Senator Oh revealed this plan on June 4, 2023, to a group of approximately 50 Chinese Canadians at an event organized by the Montreal Chinese Community United Centre (MCCUC, 满地可华人联合总会).
The purpose of the gathering was to discuss the logistical preparations for an upcoming rally in Ottawa on June 24 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Canada’s historical Chinese Exclusion Act, as well as protest against a foreign agent registry in Canada. (A more comprehensive report regarding the June 24 rally will be provided in our next posts.)
After a discussion about transportation arrangements, Senator Oh talked about his plan for the next step. He said,
“There is another important thing. After this event concludes perfectly, I hope, in my mind, to establish a nationwide Chinese foundation. We will draft how to set up a nationwide foundation. Why should we set up a foundation? We must have (an organization to receive) donations. We need the energy and the financial resources because, as you know, those journalists, those newspapers, keep suppressing us, wave after wave. They intentionally smear you by only reporting a small fraction of the facts, right?”
Senator Oh stated that the money raised by the foundation would be allocated to two primary purposes. Firstly, to establish scholarships aimed at encouraging young Chinese Canadians to engage in politics. Secondly, to undertake legal actions in various forms against people and organizations that baselessly slander and smear Chinese people, which include ‘politicians, nonsense reporters, newspapers,’ etc.
Senator Oh also expressed his frustration with the Canadian public's disapproval of David Johnston’s report on foreign interference, suggesting it to be one of the factors contributing to his decision to establish a nationwide foundation. Senator Oh said,
“Even the report from the (former) Governor-General fails to satisfy them. The (former) Governor-General concluded that those cases were transparent and that there are no Chinese spies in Canada. However, those journalists refuse to believe the (former) Governor-General's findings and insist that there are Chinese spies. It's like... a judge rules a person is innocent, but some journalists claim it's impossible and insist that the person is guilty! The situation has escalated to such a point. Therefore, our foundation is very important.”
Senator Oh told his Montreal audience that Canada’s proposed foreign agent registry was ‘a disguised Chinese Exclusion Act’, despite the fact that the purpose of a foreign agent registry is to combat foreign interference. Senator Yuen Pau Woo holds a similar opinion as Senator Oh, consistently claiming a foreign agent registry would lead to ‘a modern form of Chinese Exclusion Act’.
Reports suggest that both Senator Oh and Senator Woo have echoed Beijing’s talking points on various occasions and have had frequent meetings with Chinese government officials. Additionally, both Senators have been observed advocating for China’s global interests within the Canadian parliament, including opposing a Canadian Senate motion to denounce China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea.
At the Montreal event, Senator Oh called on Chinese Canadians to sign the Petition e-4395 to fight against “Chinese Exclusion Act 2.0”, and attendees there swiftly signed their names, according to a report by Chinese-language publication Sept Days (加拿大七天传媒).
Petition e-4395 is a citizen petition challenging Canada’s proposed legislation of a foreign agent registry. Petition e-4395 was initiated by B.C. resident Li Wang (aka Ally Wang, 王立) and sponsored by Liberal MP Chandra Arya. But according to reports in Chinese and English-language media, the petition was instructed and drafted by Senator Yuen Pau Woo.
Among the people attending Senator Oh’s Montreal event, there were some notable pro-Beijing community leaders, including Tina Zhu (朱九如), Cao Shoukang (曹寿康) and Hu Xian (胡宪).
Tina Zhu, founder and president of the Canada-China Friendship Promotion Association (CCFPA, 加中友谊促进会), has openly organized events to support Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), Hydro-Québec ex-employee Yuesheng Wang (王跃生) who was charged for spying for China, and Brossard City Council Xixi Li (李西西) whose organizations are under investigation for hosting China’s secret police stations.
Cao Shoukang, president of the Montreal Chinese Community United Centre (MCCUC), has organized various events to support the Chinese government, including a grand parade in 2022 in Montreal Chinatown celebrating the successful conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 's 20th National Congress. His organization platforms various pro-Beijing events including a local event that disrupted a pro-democracy protest by a Hong Kong group on August 18, 2019.
Hu Xian, Editor-in-Chief of Symbiosis International Media (共生国际传媒), has posted numerous pro-Beiing content and even straight propaganda on her website. In addition, she took Beijing-sponsored trips to Xinjiang two years in a row in 2022 and 2023 and has published multiple articles about the “Beautiful Xinjiang”, ignoring China’s genocidal policies and atrocious human rights abuses in that region.
A week before Senator Oh’s Montreal event, on May 28, a huge conference with a similar theme was held in Montreal in the Chinese Canadian community, titled ‘Reflection Forum of the 100th Anniversary of the Enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada’. Canadian MP Chandra Arya and China’s Consul-General in Montreal Dai Yuming (戴玉明) delivered a keynote speech at the conference. Senators Woo and Oh spoke to the audience via teleconference apps.
The conference was also organized by Cao Shoukang’s MCCUC. Tina Zhu and Hu Xian were both in attendance and posted positive reports on their websites and WeChat channels.
Senators Oh and Woo didn’t say anything about these two Montreal events on their Twitter.
Beijing-aligned entities in Canada gear up their lawfare against Canadian critics.
Senator Oh’s plan to take legal action against critics is not unpredictable if Canadians are aware of his meeting with an Australian guest five months ago.
Richard Yuan (aka Zuwen Yuan, 袁祖文), a Chinese Australian businessman met with Senator Oh on January 12, 2023 in Toronto, according to Huayi Media News (华艺传媒), a Chinese-language website in Canada.
Senator Oh and Yuan, accompanied by a number of Toronto entrepreneurs, talked about the development and philosophy of multicultural communities in Canada and Australia, as well as the major challenges during the improvement of the overall status of overseas Chinese communities.
As reported by Huayi Media News, Yuan received a number of interviews from media outlets during his trips to Toronto and Vancouver, sharing his experience in winning legal disputes with several Australian media outlets.
Richard Yuan, as a community leader with strong links to Beijing, managed to send large quantities of medical supplies to China during the early stage of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, alongside several other Chinese Australian community leaders. While Australian English media outlets covered these events, Yuan believe certain reports to be false and defamatory, particularly the allegation that he made a huge profit from the medical supplies shipment.
Yuan launched legal actions against a few media outlets. Shortly after, three mainstream English media including Seven News, SBS and Daily Mail Australia all issued apologies to Yuan.
Yuan’s success was applauded by China’s state media including Xinhua News Agency and Qiaowang. Some Chinese-language media in Canada also published happy posts, claiming it could provide useful insights for their Canadian counterparts.
In May 2020, a group of Chinese Canadians established the Maple Leafs Anti-Racism Actions Association (MLARA) to raise funds for a class action against Canadian journalist Sam Cooper, claiming Cooper’s PPE report to be racist and had smeared Chinese people. Ally Wang (aka Wang Li, 王立), the B.C. resident that initiated Petition e-4395, was one of the community leaders who fervently promoted MLARA.
Besides Senator Oh, Richard Yuan met with many other people in Toronto including former Liberal MP Tan Geng (谭耕), Chinese community leader Ping T. Tan (陈丙丁), etc.
Yuan visited Ontario MPP Vincent Ke (柯文斌) on January 13, the day after meeting with Senator Oh. In MPP Ke’s office, Yuan and Ke had a profound conversation regarding overseas Chinese participation in politics and community engagement. Yuan said Canada and Australia have similar demographics, immigration structure and legal systems, so his legal cases can serve as a model for Chinese Canadians and Chinese community leaders can use his practical anti-smearing strategies when they are defamed and vilified.
Before setting foot in Toronto, Richard Yuan spent a few days in Vancouver. He attended various events and rubbed shoulders with Chinese community leaders and Canadian politicians.
On January 7, Yuan attended the ‘2023 New Year Business and Development Entrepreneurs Annual Conference’, organized by the Canadian Community Service Association (CCSA, 加拿大华人联合总会) in the River Rock Casino Resort, Richmond. At the event, Yuan signed a strategic partnership agreement with the CCSA.
On the evening of Jan.7, Yuan was granted a ‘2023 Community Contribution Award’ at the 21st Annual CCSA New Year Gala.
Other dignitaries in attendance included China’s Vancouver Consul-General Yang Shu (杨舒), China’s Vancouver Deputy Consul-General Wang Chengjun (王承军), Canadian Senator Yuen Pau Woo (胡元豹), Liberal MP Wilson Miao (缪宗晏), Liberal MP Parm Bains (白恩斯), BCMLA Anne Kang (康安礼), BC MLA George Chow (周炯华), BC MLA Henry Yao (姚君宪), Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie (马保定) and others.
Richard Yuan’s Canada trip was arranged through an invitation from Harris Niu, president of the Canadian Community Service Association (CCSA, 加拿大华人联合总会). CCSA is an umbrella organization comprised of over 100 community groups. It is worth noting that, as reported by the Globe and Mail, leaders within CCSA and other influential Chinese Canadian groups are required to undergo political reviews conducted by the Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver. Harris Niu is also an advisor to B.C. Premier David Eby on matters related to Chinese-Canadian Community issues.
In January 2023, Richard Yuan told Chinese-language media that his trip to Canada was successful, expressing his hope that his experiences in winning legal action against journalists could help more Chinese people. A few months later, Ontario MPP Vincent Ke filed a $5.5 million libel lawsuit against Canadian journalist Sam Cooper, and Senator Oh is now setting up a foundation to provide financial support for more legal actions.