The Sam Cooper – opposition MP – Canadian government axis?

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Written by: Aidan Jonah

Be a good loyal anti-Chinese Canadian, or else, says a Constituency Assistant to New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Jenny Kwan, in fanatacist reporter Sam Cooper’s The Bureau publication (known for falsely claiming Chinese movie footage as proof of an ex-RCMP officer meeting with the mafia in Macau.)

The same assistant has further accused Chinese Canadian community organizations who advocate in favour of Chinese government policy, of “overtly acting for China’s government”, in the context of a new Canadian law criminalizing undeclared foreign influence actions on behalf of a foreign government.

 

Gabriel Yiu: ‘HongKonger’ fanatacist

Gabriel Yiu, a three-time failed BC NDP MLA candidate, ‘HongKonger’ and member of the Chinese Canadian Concern Group, is MP Kwan’s mentioned assistant. Yiu is now also a columnist for The Bureau.

Yiu lacks the brain cells, like Cooper, Kenny Chiu and a certain MP, to understood that Chinese Canadian community dissent towards anti-China can be driven by their own analysis and that community media are not just “Chinese-language media outlets controlled by Chinese officials” and “‘mouthpieces’ that the party has established in the community”.

Yiu is upset [WebArchived] about the resiliency of the Chinese Canadian community to Western propaganda:

“Chinese-language media, community leaders, and some politicians actively ‘tell China’s story well,’ promoting narratives such as: there are no human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the National Security Law has brought prosperity to Hong Kong, China has its own form of democracy, Chinese citizens enjoy freedom and human rights, China has not interfered in Canadian elections, and Canada is targeting China at the behest of the U.S.”

The problem for Yiu, is that:

  • China correctly says there is no genocide in Xinjiang, not that no human rights abuses ever occur there (this occurring is reality for every country in the world). Human rights abuses, most importantly, are not part of Chinese state policy, and are properly addressed when they occur. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens do have freedoms and human rights.

  • China does indeed have socialist democracy that doesn’t include Western-style elections.

  • The Hong Kong National Security Law, strikingly similar to Canadian national security laws, cracked down on foreign funding of Hong Kong rioters, and thereby crippled the riots, which included pleas for Trump to bring ‘freedom’ to Hong Kong.

  • Canada is indeed targeting China at the US’ behest, something enabled by US funding of Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) via the National Endowment for Democracy, whose wild success includes driving a parliamentarians’ report and eventual Xinjiang ‘genocide’ vote, a commitment for Canada taking in 10 000 Uygur ‘refugees’ and being the organization handling nearly $1 million in funds for these ‘refugees’.

  • The supposed ‘proof’ of China interfering in Canadian elections has been laughably weak, up until this point.

But why would Yiu be so concerned about the perception that Canada’s targeting of China comes at the US’ behest? Counterpose this with a quote from the Chinese Canadian Concern Group (which got nearly $170k CAD from Canada’s government to participate in the Canadian foreign interference inquiry), in a submission to Canada’s parliament last year, which had Yiu as the listed contact:

“it is feasible that a number of Hong Kong diaspora groups active in Canada may be funded by institutions such as the US National Endowment for Democracy.”

The concern group also makes a remarkable admission:

“Such diaspora groups may include Hong Kongers, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Chinese dissidents in exile. Due to the diasporic nature of these repressed groups, many of the entities representing these groups may do so as part of foreign entities funded by allied foreign governments, such as the US, EU, or UK.”

Anti-China/anti-communist groups in Canada do have a habit of taking US money:

But don’t miss the concern group’s other words [bolding added]: “Chinese dissidents in exile… many of the entities representing these groups may do so as part of foreign entities funded by allied foreign governments.” More digging shall be done.

 

An anti-democratic ‘HongKonger’ MP and her fanatacist assistant

In his article for The Bureau, Yiu complained that:

“Some individuals, aware of the situation, still defend and speak for China due to personal interests. Others target politicians and individuals who dare to criticize the CCP. Some community groups, fearing repercussions or acting under instructions from the Chinese consulate, have refused to invite certain MPs to community events.”

Now which sitting MP has complained about the refusal of Chinese Canadian community group(s) to “invite certain MPs to community events”? A certain Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver East.

As this author explained, in CovertAction Magazine, republished by TCF, Kwan has been decisively anti-China:

“Kwan, a New Democratic Party (NDP) MP since 2015, had spoken more on China, but not been too aggressive on the front, up until 2019. From 2019 on, by her own admission, she took more action against China’s handling of its internal affairs. Kwan supported the Hong Kong rioters in August 2019, even speaking at a public event in favor of them, and continued supporting them. She then supported a “Uyghur genocide” motion. In 2020, she spoke at a rally hosted by the “Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement,” which describes itself as “committed to promoting democracy and human rights in China,” which, put bluntly, is a push for regime change in China.

Kwan also supported the campaign to get China’s Taiwan province observer status at the World Health Organization and World Health Assembly. The Canadian government’s One-China Policy “acknowledges that there is only one Chinese government, does not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state and does not maintain official government-to-government relations with Taipei.”

Kwan’s support, which Canada’s government would also demonstrate in 2023, is an attack on China’s sovereignty and rejection of Canada’s “One-China Policy,” since the WHO and WHA observer status can only be obtained by sovereign countries, which Taiwan province is not even according to Canadian government policy.”

And oh-so-shockingly, “from 2019 on, when she [Kwan] took more actions on China, her relations with five important Chinese Canadian community organizations deteriorated over time.”

To the foreign interference inquiry, MP Kwan claimed to be “upset that Chinese-language media are ‘being used to propagate PRC talking points’.” Does that rhetoric sound familiar?

And where would the lack of invitations come in for Ms. Kwan? See the 2024 analysis from this author:

“Kwan would also attack the then-President of CBA Fred Kwok in Fall 2021. Kwan noticed Kwok would not speak with her once she became vocal about China’s internal affairs (WIT0000012.EN, p. 7). Kwan, complaining about an August 2021 free lunch event to support her Liberal opponent, “wonders whether the Chinese Consulate may be operating a petty cash slush fund to finance events, such as the lunch hosted by Mr. Kwok” (WIT0000012.EN, p. 8). But she has no evidence of this, as she admitted after a multi-minute word salad (Day 9 Testimony, pp. 188-90). Kwok admitted to violating the Elections Act by not registering as a third party, and paid $1,500 CAD total for the event (Day 9 Testimony, p. 187). A receipt indicating any higher payment has not been seen as of yet, but even if it was, there is no proof of this being foreign interference, but there is clear proof that this is another example of Chinese Canadian descent Kwan does not approve of.”

There is no proof that MP Kwan asked Yiu to write his article for The Bureau or even endorsed it. However, it’s truly fascinating that the exact same themes Yiu writes about, are points of bitterness for MP Kwan.

Yiu’s anti-democratic tendencies also align with that of ‘HongKonger’ failed MP re-election candidate Kenny Chiu.

To the Canadian foreign interference inquiry’s pre-testimony interview, Chiu spoke about certain advertisements which upset him [bolding added]:

CACA [Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations] and CCSA [Canadian Community Service Association] use their member organizations to promote narratives the PRC wants people to believe about China. For example, CACA bought full page ads in Canadian Chinese language newspapers, celebrating PRC passing the National Security Law in Hong Kong. Mr. Chiu questions whether China is funding such efforts, given the cost of buying such advertising space.

And what does Yiu have to say about such advertisements [bolding added]?

“In the past, hundreds of Chinese community groups and individuals have published joint advertisements in Chinese newspapers supporting the Chinese government. These groups include hometown and clan associations, business chambers, alumni associations, sports and cultural organizations, and even veterans’ groups.

This bears repeating: hundreds of groups in Canada are overtly acting for China’s government.”

In Yiu’s world, the world of an assistant to a sitting NDP MP, Chinese Canadians supporting the Chinese government’s policy actions “are overtly acting for China’s government.” And Sam Cooper’s The Bureau was happy to publish Yiu’s piece.

The proper words to describe Yiu’s disdain for the democratic rights of his fellow Chinese Canadians are difficult to find. All this author can say, is that Yiu’s interpretation, if implemented by the Canadian government, would be an open declaration of a fascist persecution of the Chinese Canadian community, a complete rejection of the pretention of Canadian ‘democracy’.

Yiu and Cooper both have a common hatred of China’s United Front Work Department. On December 18, 2024, Cooper said on X:

“Donald Trump and whoever is leader in Ottawa should be standing shoulder to shoulder saying we will together eradicate the PRC United Front networks in our cities — that’s my one sentence policy, we don’t need tariff threats.”

 Meanwhile, Yiu says that:

“These groups [in the UFWD], aligning with the CCP, actively assist Beijing in targeting Canadian politicians.”

Cooper’s desire to “eradicate the PRC United Front networks in our cities”, would equate to mass repression against Chinese Canadians and the effective crushing of their democratic rights.

Through Bill C-70, the danger of the implementation of Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, is for Chinese Canadian community members who are in organizations adjacent to the UFWD or in organizations in the UFWD, because of how seriously misunderstood the UFWD is:

“[T]he United Front network in Canada, and other countries, was created to assist Chinese development and the elimination of poverty in China. Many Chinese Canadian organizations, filled with ordinary Chinese Canadians are in this United Front. It’s not an organization focused on foreign interference, and fundamentally, Chinese Canadians are capable of dissenting to Canada’s China policies, without being directed by Beijing.”

The Canada Files explicitly warned of this danger in Summer 2024:

“While on the surface of this such statements may seem farcical, consider the political atmosphere in Canada around the UFWD (United Front Work Department) driven by Canadian intelligence agencies and parroted uncritically by CSIS-loving reporters such as Sam Cooper… Under this logic, a group within the UFWD or having been given ‘guidance’/assisted in getting operations set up by the UFWD, could be considered to be acting on behalf of the Chinese government.”

People like Yiu and Cooper are doing their best to ensure this warning becomes a future reality, and UFWD organization members are falsely prosecuted for not declaring ‘foreign influence actions on behalf of China’, by misrepresenting the UFWD and its actions.

Their newfound connection is no shocker though. Yiu, with his disdain for Chinese Canadian democratic rights, has found a common friend in Cooper. As this author previously reported:

“In December 2023, Cooper called for Chinese Canadian organizations against McCarthyism to be prevented from suing Canada’s Attorney General in regular courts - under the guise that their resistance is ‘CCP lawfare’ – they should only be allowed to sue in special ‘national security’ courts.”

Yiu’s article ends with a threat to those Chinese Canadians who are in organizations adjacent to the UFWD, or in the UFWD:

“Since 2000, the U.S. has publicly disclosed over 200 cases involving espionage and interference linked to the CCP. In Canada, however, no one has been prosecuted despite mounting evidence of interference. Now that Bill C-70 has passed and a foreign influence registry is underway, community members must recognize these red lines to avoid severe legal consequences.”

 

The Sam Cooper – opposition MP – imperialist diaspora faction - Canadian government axis

Sam Cooper, MP Jenny Kwan, Yiu of Chinese Canadian Concern Group, the concern group itself, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canadian government have a common desire to crush dissent in the Chinese Canadian community towards China policy in the name of protecting Canadian ‘democracy’. Whether or not they formally cooperate, their aims, advocacy and speech lead in the same direction.

The Canadian state itself is allowing a CIA-funded Uygur separatist group to manage $1 million CAD for Uygur ‘refugees’ coming to Canada (while never listing the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization), and tried to hide the funding when it was exposed by The Canada Files. The Canadian government also funded the Chinese Canadian Concern Group and The Human Rights Coalition (containing URAP and Falun Gong Human Rights Group), to participate in the foreign interference inquiry.

Meanwhile, when URAP and the Canada-Tibet Committee were sanctioned by the People’s Republic of China for their separatist advocacy seeking to create independent nation states from China’s Xinjiang and Tibet, Canada’s foreign ministry expressed solidarity with the separatists:

“Global Affairs Canada expresses solidarity with the members of the Canadian Tibet Committee and the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and condemns the decision by the Chinese government to punish them for speaking out for human rights.”

Canada’s government is certainly aligned with the anti-democratic imperialist faction of the Chinese Canadian diaspora.

Fascist repression of the Chinese Canadian community is not as far away as you may want to believe, and if this comes to pass its public face will be the ‘good Asians’, ‘Chinese Community Party’-hating, identity-denying Chinese Canadians who want to exert control over the whole community.

Will the Chinese Canadian community organize to defend their democratic rights? Who even knows at this point. This author hopes they do.

However, if they don’t, the consequences will come in a devastating fashion.


Aidan Jonah is the Editor-in-Chief of The Canada Files, a socialist, anti-imperialist news outlet founded in 2019. Jonah wrote a report for the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in September 2021.


Editor’s note: The Canada Files is the country's only news outlet focused on Canadian foreign policy. We've provided critical investigations & hard-hitting analysis on Canadian foreign policy since 2019, and need your support.
 
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Aidan Jonah