China supported Trudeau's Liberals, worked to defeat Conservatives in Canada's 2021 election, report

China reportedly attempted to disrupt Canada's 2021 election by working to defeat conservative politicians and supporting the re-election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party in another minority government. 

China’s former consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling bragged about how she helped defeat two Conservative members of parliament in 2021, according to classified Canadian Security Intelligence Service documents reviewed by The Globe and Mail last week.

Beijing was unhappy that Canada's Liberals had become critical of China, but felt that the party was the best option, documents show. China was reportedly so opposed to a right-wing government in Canada that it launched disinformation campaigns and used Chinese-Canadian proxies to voice opposition to the Conservative Party in favor of the Liberals. 

Chinese diplomats made undeclared cash donations to campaigns and had business owners hire international students from China and assign them to volunteer full time for election campaigns, the report found.

In Chinese-language media, some reporters were instructed to state that if Conservatives won the election, Chinese students would be banned from universities. 

About 1.8 Canadians are of Chinese descent, accounting for more than 5% of Canada's total population, as of the country's 2021 Census.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vineault told Trudeau that there was no indication that China's interference attempts helped elect his party.