Author | Sam Cooper |
---|---|
Set in | Vancouver |
Publisher | Optimum Publishing International |
Publication date | May 2021 |
Publication place | Canada |
Pages | 460 |
Wilful Blindness is an investigative book by Sam Cooper into the influence of soft power of China in Vancouver, Canada. It builds upon Project Sidewinder report from the RCMP and the CSIS and specifically focuses on "The Vancouver Model". Cooper's investigation claims the operation started during the World Expo in 1986 in Vancouver, and that the United Front Work Department, Chinese triads, and the Big Circle Boys laundered fentanyl drug money through Vancouver area casinos such as the Parq and River Rocks casino, corrupting government agencies, spies, influencers, and Canadian society. Leading to Vancouver's housing market bubble and destabilization of the western world with the opioid epidemic. [1] [2] 20% of Vancouver Metro identify as Chinese and another 20% are from East and Southeast Asian descent. [3]
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 222 destinations worldwide. It is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Air Canada's major hubs are at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL), and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is a foreign intelligence service and security agency of the federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and conducting covert action within Canada and abroad. CSIS reports to the Minister of Public Safety, and is subject to review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
The United Front Work Department is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with "united front work". It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over elite individuals and organizations inside and outside mainland China, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in other countries.
The Big Circle Gang or Big Circle Boys is a Chinese triad. In 2009, the Big Circle Boys were described as "one of the largest and most sophisticated criminal conspiracies" in Canada.
River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia is the largest casino in the province of British Columbia. The casino is owned by Great Canadian Entertainment. The hotel has a total of 396 rooms, including standard rooms and suites and it is situated on the river with a 144-berth marina.
Wan Kuok-koi, popularly known as Broken Tooth Koi, is a businessman and former leader of the Macau branch of the 14K triad. He was released after more than 14 years in prison in December 2012. In the years following, he has reportedly been involved in illicit gambling projects in Myanmar, associated with illicit drug production and transnational organized crime groups operating in and around the Golden Triangle. In December 2020, the U.S. sanctioned Wan under the Global Magnitsky Act.
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (OCAO) is an external name of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Prior to 2018, OCAO was an administrative office under the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for liaising with and influencing overseas Chinese as part of its united front efforts. Due to the 2018 party and government reform in China, OCAO was merged into the UFWD, with its functions being taken up by the department. Under the arrangement "one institution with two names", UFWD reserves the name "Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council", generally used when dealing in public statements and dealing with the outside world.
Yuen Pau Woo is a Canadian politician who has served as a senator from British Columbia (BC) since 2016. He was previously facilitator of the Independent Senators Group (ISG), taking on the role from September 2017 until January 2022. Woo was also the president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver-based think-tank on Canada–Asia relations, until August 11, 2014.
Victor Oh is a retired Canadian politician who served as a Canadian senator from Ontario from January 2013 until his mandatory retirement in June 2024.
A triad is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.
Han Peng Dong is a Canadian politician who is serving as the member of parliament (MP) for Don Valley North. Sitting as an independent, Dong was elected to the House of Commons in 2019 as a member of the Liberal Party. He previously served as the member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Trinity—Spadina from 2014 to 2018, with the Ontario Liberal Party. In March 2023, Dong stepped down from the Liberal caucus due to allegations that he advised the Chinese consul general in Toronto against the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and helped the consulate interfere in the 2019 federal election.
Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada is a 2019 book by Jonathan Manthorpe about Canada's foreign relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. Manthorpe argues that Canada and the PRC have a clash of values and that Canada has been a victim of multiple abuses by Beijing including spying, abductions, human rights abuses, intellectual property theft, monitoring and intimidating Chinese Canadians and Chinese dissidents, and other attempts to influence Canadian policy. His thesis is that the PRC has been able to implement such policies for a number of years due to naivete by Canadian policy makers. In the book, Manthorpe advocates for a change in Canadian foreign policy towards the PRC.
The Cullen Commission is a money laundering inquiry established by the Canadian province of British Columbia. Currently all evidence has been presented, and the Commission was given an extension until May 20, 2022, to deliver its findings. The findings were delivered to the BC attorney general on June 2, 2022, and require a review from the Attorney general of British Columbia before they can be released. The findings were expected to be released on June 15, 2022.
Better Dwelling is a Vancouver-based daily news publisher and financial media company. It operates Canada's largest independent housing news outlet.
Project Sidewinder is a declassified study conducted by a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) joint task force. It controversially argues Chinese intelligence and Triads have been working together on intelligence operations in Canada. The report was headed by former Asia Pacific Chief, Michel Juneau Katsuya. He later collaborated with various US counterparts who were investigating the links between Organized Crime, the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese business tycoons. Dubbed the Unholy Trinity by the U.S. Department of Justice in a later named collaboration between 5 US agencies including the FBI, DEA, DIA, NSIA and CIA. Dubbed Dragon Lord, a summary of the report was uncovered by former military intelligence analyst Scott McGregor and Documentary Journalist Ina Mitchell and published in their book The Mosaic Effect in October 2023.
Sam Cooper is a Canadian investigative journalist and best-selling author, best known for his coverage of Canada–China relations and tensions.
The People's Republic of China made attempts to interfere in the 2019 Canadian federal election and 2021 Canadian federal election and threatened Canadian politicians, according to Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Parliament of Canada's Foreign Interference Commission. In late 2022, the Global News television network reported on a suspected attempt by the PRC to infiltrate the Parliament of Canada by funding a network of candidates to run in the 2019 Canadian federal election. In early 2023, The Globe and Mail newspaper published a series of articles reporting that the CSIS, in several classified documents, advised that China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) and United Front Work Department had employed disinformation campaigns and undisclosed donations to support preferred candidates during the 2021 Canadian federal election, with the aim of ensuring that the Liberals would win again, but only with a minority. In February 2023, CSIS concluded that the Chinese government interfered in the 2019 and 2021 elections. In May 2024, an official probe by parliament's Foreign Interference Commission found that China interfered in both elections.
Chinese government interference in Canada consists of espionage, compromise of politicians and government officials, election interference, transnational repression, and control of individuals and companies with ties to the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Countering Foreign Interference Act, commonly known as Bill C-70, is an Act of the Parliament of Canada with the objective of countering foreign interference in Canadian democratic processes. The legislation consists of four parts, with the first three parts consisting of amendments to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the newly renamed Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act plus the Criminal Code, and the Canada Evidence Act, respectively. The fourth part enacts the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, which establishes a public registry of foreign agents.