cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/53852233

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Here is the full report: Guarding the G7 - Countering Beijing’s interference operations (pdf)

Canadian researchers are warning G7 countries of “systemic” Chinese foreign interference, particularly as technology and tactics evolve and Beijing’s agents embed themselves further into societies.

The report by the Montreal Institute for Global Security - released Wednesday, the day before Canada is set to welcome China’s foreign minister to Ottawa - calls on democracies to counter Chinese interference.

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“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leverages a broad ecosystem of affiliated organizations, intermediaries, and informal networks that span political, economic, academic, and societal domains to influence and interfere in G7 countries,” the report says.

“These actors often operate under the guise of legitimate exchange, enabling influence to be exercised in ways that are difficult to detect, attribute, or regulate.”

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The Group of Seven (G7), comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, represents some of the world’s most advanced democracies and largest economies. As central pillars of the rules-based international order, G7 members are also prime targets for foreign interference.

Over the past decade, mounting evidence has highlighted the role of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD) as a key instrument of influence across G7 countries. United front work is not simply a set of formal organizations, but a method of influence that operates through political, economic, academic, and societal channels.

While many activities occur under the banner of legitimate exchange and cooperation, investigations, intelligence disclosures, and parliamentary inquiries have revealed patterns consistent with covert influence, elite capture, and transnational repression, the report says.

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In a related report by Canadian media outlet Global News, Kyle Matthews, executive director of the Montreal Institute for Global Affairs, said he and other experts support Canada pursuing trade with China and other countries like India that have been accused of foreign interference, but “we cannot be naive.”

“We’re dealing with states that have murdered Canadian citizens, that have harassed Canadian citizens, states that have stolen some of our top intellectual property,” Matthews said.

“We do have economic interests to expand. However, we cannot be blind.”

Dan Stanton, a former official with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service who is now the director of the national security program at the University of Ottawa, said the federal government needs to be transparent with Canadians — especially diaspora communities — that it still recognizes the risk of foreign interference.

“Canadians need to understand that the government has not forgotten, one hopes, and the government is still going to hold countries to account for what they’re doing,” he said.

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