[加拿大新聞] Mac groups ask feds to look into China’s role in campus events

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Mac groups ask feds to look into China’s role in campus events

McMaster University student groups are asking the federal government to investigate whether Chinese officials played a role in recent incidents on university campuses, including in Hamilton where an activist was allegedly bullied during a talk.

A letter sent Wednesday to Ralph Goodale, the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, and Chrystia Freeland, the foreign affairs minister, requested the investigation "to ensure that we can freely exercise our constitutional rights."

"We expect our government to ensure our ability to freely raise international human rights abuses, and ensure that the academic environment we experience is free from hate, cyberbullying, and intimidation, particularly from foreign governments," said the joint letter signed by the McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice, the McMaster Muslim Students' Association and activist Rukiye Turdush. The letter was also "supported by" Students for a Free Tibet.

In response to a request for comment from Goodale and Freeland, the Spectator received a statement from Daniele Medlej, the press secretary to Science and Sport Minister Kirsty Duncan.

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"Any place of learning that brings together people of different backgrounds should be an environment that is free of abuse, discrimination, harassment and hate, and should promote respect and support," the statement reads. "It is also important to note that any malicious interference in domestic affairs by foreign representatives to Canada would be inappropriate."

Last week, online trolls attacked Turdush, who was invited to speak at McMaster University about the ongoing persecution of Uyghur Muslims. During her talk, which was organized by the McMaster Muslim Students' Association and McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice and attended by about 100 people, Turdush was filmed and interrupted by Chinese students.

Chinese officials in Canadadenied involvement in the incident, as well as in hateful comments directed at Chemi Lhamo, a Tibetan youth leader and Canadian citizen who is the newly elected president of the University of Toronto Scarborough campus students' union. More than 11,000 signed an online petition calling on her to step down.

"What happened recently at the University of Toronto and McMaster University has nothing to do with the Chinese Embassy and Chinese Consulate General in Canada," the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said in an online statement. "We strongly support the just and patriotic actions of Chinese students."

Turdush, a Canadian citizen who emigrated from China in 1998, said she wrote to the president of McMaster University, Patrick Deane, following the event, warning of her suspicions that the students who interrupted her talk might be working with the Chinese government.

She said she was motivated to write him after seeing a joint statement from several Chinese student organizations in which they criticized the university for hosting a "separatist" critic of the Chinese government and demanded McMaster uphold its "duty of supervision."

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McMaster student groups want feds to investigate Chinese involvement at McMaster

Student groups allege talk was disrupted at behest of Chinese government

Adam Carter · CBC News · Posted: Feb 21, 2019 11:11 AM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago



McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice and the McMaster Muslim Students’ Association are asking for the federal government to investigate alleged influence by the Chinese government in the disruption of a speech by an activist at McMaster last week. (CBC)33 comments

Several McMaster University student groups are asking the federal government to investigate whether Chinese officials are meddling with student affairs on campuses in Canada.

Their plea comes after a speech by an activist critical of the Chinese government's treatment of Uighurs was disrupted at the university last week, under a cloud of speculation that the Chinese government itself was involved.

"These directives are considered a form of intimidation, and an attempt to silence those wishing to freely express opposition to Chinese human rights abuses and to raise awareness," reads the letter, which is signed by McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice, the McMaster Muslim Students' Association, speaker Rukiye Turdush, and "supported" by Students for a Free Tibet.

"As students, we feel it is our right to be able to speak without intimidation or bullying at our university about human rights abuses anywhere in the world."

• Activist accuses Chinese government of meddling after McMaster speech disrupted

• China denies role in disrupting McMaster speech but praises 'patriotic' actions

Turdush said in a video she posted online after her talk that she believes students who tried to disrupt her speech on Feb. 11 were "instructed by the Chinese consulate." She says they filmed and shouted at her during the talk.

Chinese officials in Canada have denied any role in disrupting her speech — but also applauded the "patriotic" actions of those who took part in the incident.

"We strongly support the just and patriotic actions of Chinese students," reads a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa issued earlier this week.

In their letter to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrysta Freeland, the McMaster student groups implored the government to investigate regardless.

"We expect our government to ensure our ability to freely raise international human rights abuses, and ensure that the academic environment we experience is free from hate, cyber bullying and intimidation, particularly from foreign governments."

Activist Rukiye Turdush says she believes the Chinese government was involved in the disruption of a presentation she was giving at McMaster University last week. (Rukiye Turdush/Facebook)

CBC requested comment from Goodale and Freeland, but instead received a response from Daniele Medlej, the press secretary for the office of the Minister of Science and Sport. Medlej did not say whether any investigation was forthcoming, nor did she address why she was answering instead of Goodale or Freeland's representatives.

"Any place of learning that brings together people of different backgrounds should be an environment that is free of abuse, discrimination, harassment and hate, and should promote respect and support," Medlej said in an email.

"It is also important to note that any malicious interference in domestic affairs by foreign representatives to Canada would be inappropriate."

In a similar incident earlier this week, the president-elect of the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus raised questions about the source of pro-China attacks against her.

Chemi Lhamo said she believed she was targeted because of her Tibetan identity, after receiving thousands of hateful comments online, most rife with anti-Tibet sentiment.

The Chinese government also disavowed any involvement in that incident.