Amid nationwide commemorative events of the Tiananmen Square crackdown this week, some B.C. politicians recently celebrated closer ties with Beijing at an event hosted by the Vancouver consulate general of the People’s Republic of China.
PRC Consul General Yang Shu hosted at least five elected officials, including three members of the Conservative Party of B.C., on May 31, according to photos circulating online and statements from his office.
Shu was marking the 30th anniversary of the sister province relationship between B.C. and the Chinese province of Guangdong, a key industrial and export hub.
Shu, according to a translated statement published on the consulate website, “emphasized that the U.S.’s unilateral tariffs have disrupted the global economic order, affecting both China and Canada. Given the strong complementary economic structures, Guangdong and B.C. have broad prospects for collaboration.”
Those comments come amid icier trade relations that have seen China impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products, and Canada impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
B.C. Premier David Eby is currently on a trade mission to Asia but has bypassed China, the province's second-largest export market.
The consulate stated Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat attended the event. Her appearance would be notable in so much as she signed a PRC Belt and Road Initiative memorandum of understanding with Guangdong in 2016 as B.C.’s then-trade minister alongside then-premier Christy Clark.
Critics raised concerns the now expired pact overlooked human rights considerations and economic threats posed by China.
The consulate also said Vancouver-Fraserview MLA George Chow attended. He serves as B.C.’s minister of citizens’ services, which oversees cybersecurity.
The province banned the TikTok social media app from government devices in 2023 over fears of Chinese surveillance.
And in June 2024 the provincial government faced what it described as a major, sophisticated cybersecurity breach. Earlier that same week Ottawa issued a statement on cybersecurity, identifying China as a leading threat.
The consulate also stated Richmond Conservative MLAs Steve Kooner and Hon Chan attended the event, the former being the critic for B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma, who oversees the province's justice system.
In December 2018, B.C. became ground zero for souring Canada-China diplomatic relations following the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. CFO Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport. China subsequently arrested and detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were living and working in China at the time.
The Canadian government described the Michaels’ detention as arbitrary and cruel.
The consulate stated Steveston-Richmond East MP Parm Bains was also in attendance. His riding was the centre of controversy over claims it was affected by pro-China disinformation campaigns during the 2021 federal election.
In the Foreign Interference Commission’s final report, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue stated it was "not possible to directly link misleading media narratives with how any given voter cast their ballot."
Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt was also in attendance.
He told BIV he was invited by a business group, attended as a private citizen and did not speak to Shu about politics.
He noted he was mayor of Vancouver when the sister-province relationship was forged for cultural and social reasons, and this was done with "strong support from the Chinese community."
Harcourt said he's visited China more than 20 times since then and acknowledged "there is a different set of circumstances."
BIV reached out to all the other politicians for comment but received no response prior to publication of this story.
Vancouver pro-democracy group maintains vigilance against communist rule of Hong Kong
In the days leading up to June 4—the 26th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown—pro-democracy individuals and groups held vigils in Vancouver. The largest one is scheduled for Wednesday at downtown Vancouver's David Lam Park and is being organized by the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM).
The organization’s chair, Edmund Leung, told BIV that the event “solemnly commemorates the lives lost during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and to honour those who sacrificed their freedom and safety during Hong Kong’s 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Movement.”
Added Leung: “The Chinese Communist Party’s repression has never ceased—from the massacre in 1989, to the democratic protests in 2019, and now a growing transnational crackdown on overseas Hongkongers. Preserving history and memory remains our solemn mission.”
He invited three former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance—Lee Cheuk-Yan, Albert Ho, and Chow Hang-tung—to speak at the downtown Vancouver vigil.
The VSSDM also held a wreath-laying ceremony June 1 at the Statue of the Goddess of Democracy on the University of British Columbia campus.
The statue remains the go-to spot to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown and 1997’s handing over of Hong Kong from British rule to the PRC. The site is mired in controversy, having initially been opposed on city-owned land by consulate allies in 1990.
Vancouver city Coun. Lenny Zhou hinted in June 2024 at a permanent Tiananmen Square memorial on city land. No such plan has been announced since then.
BIV has also reached out to Zhou for comment on this year’s commemorations.
