Sanghai: Following Ottawa's announcement that it was returning a Chinese diplomat accused of attempting to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of Beijing, China announced on Tuesday that it was exiling Canada's consul in Shanghai in retaliatory action.
Beijing's foreign ministry issued a statement saying, "China decides to declare Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai, persona non grata," and that she "has been asked to leave China before May 13."
According to a poll released on Wednesday, the majority of Canadians want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take stronger action in response to China's alleged election interference as relations between the two nations once again deteriorate.
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In response to a string of recent events, including Beijing's arbitrary detention of two Canadians and media reports of election meddling, about 53% of respondents said they felt Canada's response was "not strong enough," according to polling company Angus Reid Institute.
The online survey revealed that 6 percent thought the federal government's response was "too strong," while another 41% thought it was "about right."
"Canadians are indicating that they expect their government to take this seriously," said Shachi Kurl, president of the institute, which polled 1,622 Canadian adults from February 23 to February 25.
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Trudeau acknowledged that the Chinese made attempts to meddle in the elections, but he insisted that the results of the elections in 2019 and 2021 were unaffected. He has so far resisted calls for a thorough investigation into the accusations by the public.
The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, is being conducted as Canada and China continue to be at odds over election-related and other security-related issues.
Canada this week prohibited the use of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on equipment provided by the government, citing security and privacy concerns. Before being shot down last month, a rumoured Chinese spy balloon was seen flying over the United States and Canada.
Recent media reports have suggested that China is still interfering in Canada's elections. This week, Trudeau denied one report that claimed Canada's spy agency had instructed his office to withdraw a Chinese-Canadian candidate in 2019 because of his connections to Beijing.
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The Chinese embassy in Ottawa responded to the most recent report on Wednesday with an email that called the accusations "baseless and defamatory."
The embassy stated, "We are not interested in meddling in Canada's internal affairs, nor have we ever attempted to do so. However, the majority of Canadians reject the embassy's assertion. According to the survey, about 65% of respondents said they thought the Chinese government "definitely" or "probably" tried to meddle with the 2021 election.