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Wei Chengyi responds to allegations on role in 2019 election-interference network

In order to eradicate, or at least reduce the exploitation of the issue by people with ulterior motives and fabricate them out of nothing to achieve the purpose of confusing the public, I hereby make the following statement:

1. I am a Chinese-born Canadian citizen, and I take it for granted that I’m close to the Chinese Consulate in China. Canada is a multicultural country, and all ethnic groups are close to the embassies and consulates in Canada of their country of origin. What is wrong with this? Like Canadians living abroad or emigrating abroad, should they be blamed for having close and regular communication with local Canadian embassies and consulates?

2. My relationship with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto, and even with China, is open. I have no secrets. On the wall of my company’s office, there are public photos of me and them at events, as well as photos of me at the Beijing venue during the two sessions, which can be seen by people who walk into the office; All the pictures are also uploaded to the Internet, everyone can see them at any time. I did not hide them. It was before, is now, and will be the same in the future.

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3. The people who involved me in the so-called “interference in the 2019 and 2022 federal elections” either had ulterior motives or simply did not understand the situation of the Chinese community and wanted to stigmatize me. After the second half of 2018, I had basically no contact with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Since the arrival of Consul General HAN TAO in August, owing to personal reasons, I have ceased to serve as Chairman of the Federation of Chinese Associations to concentrate on my business. Therefore, the “interference of [the] Chinese Consulate in Toronto through myself in 2019 and 2022 elections”, can be described as “nonsense, hogwash”, which is really not exaggerated. If I want to donate to support a worthy candidate, I personally still have the ability to donate as much as the law allows. Those media people with ulterior motives: don’t act like a snob, Ha-ha!

4. I support and approve the establishment of Confucius Institutes. I think it’s very good to be able to teach Chinese classes in Ontario schools and teach young people one more language, just as English is commonly taught in Chinese schools today. As for whether to learn or not, it is a voluntary choice of students and parents, and there is no compulsion. The Confucius Institute was suspended later, and it was also everyone’s choice, and under Western democracies, I fully respect this decision.

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5. Some people have alleged that I went to Beijing to attend the two sessions (the People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference), which I was invited to attend, but I was not a representative of the two sessions, and just an observation learner as I also went to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to watch the parliamentary debate in the public gallery. This is a study of different parliamentary systems and enriches one’s own knowledge.

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6. I am a businessman who is more interested in doing business than anything else, and has no interest in politics at all, nor in doing so. I will concentrate my energy and time on doing better business, making my own contribution to the Canadian economy, and creating more jobs for Canadian citizens. Canada is a democratic, rule-of-law country. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will enforce the law and the law will punish people who break it. Do not use the name of freedom and ulterior motives to slander law-abiding people.

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