At Least 25 Canadian Residents Targeted by Chinese Police, Court Files Reveal

At least 25 Canadian residents have been targeted by Chinese police under an “anti-corruption program” used to repatriate Chinese nationals abroad, according to documents released as part of an ongoing case.

Court documents filed during the trial of former RCMP officer William Majcher reveal the Canadian residents were targeted by Chinese police through the regime’s “Operation Fox Hunt” and “Operation Sky Net” campaigns, according to a report by CTV News.

The documents indicate the Chinese nationals may have been forced to return to China against their will to face punishment for Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-alleged financial crimes, with some potentially facing life imprisonment or a death sentence.

Majcher, 63, has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he was preparing to use “threat, accusation, menace or violence” to target B.C.-based real estate mogul Hongwei “Kevin” Sun “at the direction of, for the benefit of or in association with the People’s Republic of China.” Majcher’s trial began on April 20 and the judge’s verdict is expected to be delivered on May 13. The RCMP began investigating Majcher in 2021, according to court documents.

Sun is allegedly wanted in China for committing financial fraud against the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, yielding hundreds of millions of dollars, and would likely face a death sentence if he were repatriated, the court heard.

While Beijing says its global anti-corruption campaigns aim to target individuals who the regime considers to be “corrupt” or people accused of fleeing China with “misappropriated funds,” human rights organizations have said Chinese police operations abroad also target dissidents and democracy activists.

A 2022 report by Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders found at least 102 secret Chinese police stations in 53 countries around the world, including at least five in Canada.

Safeguard Defenders said secret police stations “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation” and show the worrying growth of “transnational repression” and “long-arm policing” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

A House of Commons report released in 2023 also said “at least five” illicit police stations were operating secretly in Canada.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said the Chinese police stations serve in part to collect intelligence and monitor Chinese dissidents living in Canada as part of a “broader transnational anti-corruption, repression and repatriation campaign.”

Canada–China Police Agreement

Before Majcher’s trial began, Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China in January and signed several agreements with Beijing, including a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security, the same Chinese ministry that was involved in operating the illegal police stations in Canada.

The federal government has so far kept the details of the MOU confidential, while other MOUs signed during Carney’s China visit have been made public.

A Jan. 16 joint statement regarding the agreements signed by Ottawa and Beijing said the two sides committed to “strengthening law enforcement cooperation to combat corruption and transnational crimes, including telecommunication and cyber fraud and illegal synthetic drugs in accordance with their respective laws.”

RCMP Senior Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin told the Senate national finance committee last month that the MOU is a “re-enhancement” of one that was first signed in 2010, and then reviewed in 2014 and 2018.

He noted that MOUs with many different law enforcement agencies are reviewed, modified, or updated to modernize language “from time to time,” and compared it to MOUs the RCMP has with the FBI, the CIA, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as with other police agencies in Canada.

Conservative MP Dean Allison called Larkin’s comments “a complete failure of judgment,” noting the Chinese regime has been “repeatedly accused of interference, intimidation, and operating illegal police stations on Canadian soil.”

The Conservatives have repeatedly pressed Canada’s minister of public safety to at least allow parliamentarians to review the agreement if the government maintains its decision to not publicly release the agreement. On May 12, NDP MP Jenny Kwan also issued a statement calling on the government to release the agreement.

“The Ministry of Public Security and the People’s Republic of China has been repeatedly linked by international human rights organizations, journalists, and democratic governments to intimidation campaigns and tactics abroad,” Kwan said in a letter to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.

“In Canada, concerns surrounding alleged Chinese ‘police stations’ and foreign interference activities have already deeply undermined public trust and community safety. In this context, transparency is essential.”

A public inquiry probing foreign interference in Canada that concluded last year determined that China is the “most active” foreign power meddling in Canada’s affairs.

Chinese Police ‘Missing’

During Majcher’s trial, the court also heard from RCMP Supt. Peter Tsui that three Chinese police officials went “missing” for six hours while they were on an RCMP-escorted visit in Vancouver in 2018, raising concerns that they could be involved in repatriating individuals targeted by Beijing.

Approximately 14 Chinese officers with China’s Ministry of Public Security were hosted by Canadian police in Vancouver and Toronto at the time to work on “mutual files” related to fraud, money laundering, and “economic fugitives” cases, Tsui said.

Landson Chan, advocacy officer of UK-based NGO Hong Kong Watch, told MPs of the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights in March that the Hong Kong diaspora in Canada is a target of Chinese transnational repression and have suffered harassment, intimidation, and surveillance.

He said Ottawa’s police cooperation agreement with Beijing raises concerns about safeguards and information sharing given the alleged Chinese police service stations in Canada.

Hong Kong Watch and nine other Hong Kong diaspora community groups said in a joint statement in February that the police cooperation MOU is “profoundly alarming” for communities who have fled repression. The groups said Ottawa’s silence on the MOU has “intensified fears” that the agreement could “intentionally or unintentionally, expose individuals or community networks to harm.”

William Hetherington contributed to this report.