Dennis Molinaro: Canada under assault from Chinese state interference

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent high-profile international trip included a visit to China where he announced a new “strategic partnership” with Beijing.

In the aftermath, attention has focused on the canola and electric vehicle deals that emerged, while far less has been said about the “guardrails” Carney previously stated are necessary for dealing with Beijing.

But those promised guardrails deserve serious scrutiny — especially after decades of foreign interference in Canada carried out by China.

To discuss that history, Dr. Dennis Molinaro joins <em>Inside Policy Talks. </em>Molinaro is the author of the recently published book <em>Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China's Secret War Against Canada</em>. The book describes Molinaro’s incredible investigation into Beijing’s five decades of interference in Canada’s political and public life. Molinaro is a historian and an expert in security, espionage, and counter-intelligence. He’s worked in government as a national security analyst and policy advisor, and is now a faculty member at Ontario Tech University.

On the podcast, he tells Christopher Coates, director of foreign policy, national defence, and national security at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, that if Canada wants to trade with China, it must do so with an “understanding of the country that China is, not the country that Canada wants it to be.”

“The reality is China is an authoritarian system. It is a dictatorship. You have there an immense security state apparatus,” says Molinaro. “This is not a Western country. This isn't just a normal economic viable alternative to trading with the United States.”