Canada’s economic and strategic interdependence with the United States makes Canada an important priority for the People’s Republic of China in realizing its geopolitical goals. There is increasing concern by Canadian intelligence agencies that Canadian politicians, civil servants, and policy advisers are subject to Chinese political influence. There is also significant evidence that Chinese diaspora communities, especially the Chinese language media in Canada, are subject to intimidation by agents of the Chinese state. In response to persistent political pressure by agents of the PRC, the government of Canada has authorized transfer of technology developed in Canada with significant innovative military applications to Chinese state-related concerns. The government of Canada is receptive to Chinese political pressure due to strong imperatives to diversify Canada’s economic dependence away from the United States in light of uncertainty over the future of NAFTA. The Chinese government holds out the promise of better access to China’s large market if Canada complies with China’s political and economic foreign agenda.

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