Illustration:Liu Rui/GT

A new law was introduced in Canada's Parliament on Monday, along with a series of other amendments. This new law will make it easier to prosecute illegal foreign influence activity. Just a few days ago, the Foreign Interference Commission in Canada released its preliminary report. Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue pointed out in the report that there was a "reasonable possibility" that China interfered in the Canadian federal elections in 2019 and 2021, but believes that it did not change the overall election results.

For a long time, Canada has been deliberately creating an atmosphere of Chinese interference in Canadian elections. In the latest report, China is labeled as "the most persistent and sophisticated foreign interference threat to Canada." The anti-interference legislation is to highlight the urgency of Canada's resistance to foreign interference, as if Canada's national security and democratic processes were under significant threat. However, the so-called China's foreign interference is nothing but a lie to serve political purposes and a drama directed and performed by Canada itself. The so-called report is riddled with speculative wording such as "possible," "may," and "potential" without any real evidence. Accusing China based on such flimsy evidence and escalating it to the legislative level is a waste of national resources. It's clear that Canada is becoming more and more ridiculous.

Accusing other countries of interfering in elections seems to have become a common practice in some Western countries.

The hype is useful for both the ruling party and the opposition, as Liu Dan, a researcher at the Center for Regional Country Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, pointed out. Because in the previous two elections, the ruling party barely won, only maintaining a minority government position and the Conservative Party was continuously suppressed and unable to win. Therefore, if the elections were said to have been interfered with by another country, it can to some extent help explain why they did not win or win decisively. Making China a scapegoat in this difficult situation can help save face and serve their purposes. By winning the trust of voters in their ability to govern and maintain politics by slandering China, the Canadian government has played a "clever" game.

The various accusations from Western countries about election interference are endless, but there is no real evidence. This smooth chain of operations, from creating a public opinion uproar about 'China's foreign interference' to implementing legal prosecutions, is the essence of the American anti-China approach.

Canada's actions toward China in recent years have been full of shadows of American practices, reflecting a tragic aspect of Canadian diplomacy, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. Canada is increasingly following the American anti-China path. This also reflects the lack of autonomy and independence among Canadian political elites. Canada's overall foreign policy is following in the footsteps of the US, showing a strong dependence on American policies, leading to a deeper entrenchment in losing its own stance and blindly opposing China.

The countries that fabricate the lies of "interference" are actually the real perpetrators of "interference." Anyone with a basic understanding of China knows that China is the staunchest defender and practitioner of the principle of "non-interference in internal affairs." China has never and will never have any interest in interfering in other countries' internal affairs, and its historical record in this regard is much cleaner than Canada's, not to mention the notorious record of the US.

As the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded, "Canada has long had a record of grossly interfering in China's domestic affairs on issues concerning our core interests such as Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong. Canada is the one that actually needs to stop foreign interference activities." On the issue of "foreign interference," Canada should reflect on itself. 

Canada needs to cure its paranoia about accusing China of interfering in elections. China is busy accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and solidly promoting the process of Chinese modernization with high-quality development. With so much to do, China has no interest, time, or inclination to interfere in any other country in any way. 

For a long time, China and Canada have maintained good bilateral relations, complementing each other in many aspects, with very close exchanges and interactions, which is how the relationship between the two countries should be. But now, Canada is maliciously smearing China, drifting further down the American anti-China path, and losing itself. We hope that Canada can return to rationality. Canada's foreign policy is being hijacked by a few false reports smearing China, then how can Canada still talk about being a "middle power"? It's just a laughingstock echoing the US.