Conservative vote plunged in Canada’s most Chinese electorates. Did party pay price for tough stance on Beijing?
- Ousted MP Kenny Chiu says doors were shut in his face and some supporters abandoned him over ‘half truths’ and ‘lies’ about his positions on Hong Kong and China
- A second Tory also faces defeat in Richmond, Canada’s most Chinese city, after a huge drop in support that contrasted with the national vote
Weeks after being comfortably elected in Steveston-Richmond East, one of Canada’s most ethnically Chinese electorates, Chiu was back in his birthplace of Hong Kong as an international monitor for the city’s district council elections.
But now, after less than two years as an MP, Chiu is out, having suffered a hefty swing against him of 8.3 percentage points in Monday’s election.
And he believes at least part of that was because of what he called a campaign of “disinformation” about his stances on China and Hong Kong. Anonymous WeChat messages had accused Chiu of wanting mainland Chinese immigrants to register as foreign agents.
The Chinese government sanctioned him for his role on the rights committee. And China’s ambassador, Cong Peiwu, launched a thinly veiled attack on Canada’s Tories when he said Beijing opposed politicians who were “smearing” China.