New questions have surfaced about relations between a federal Liberal candidate running in Markham-Unionville and China’s consulate in Toronto, including his presentation of an award of appreciation to a consul-general and appearing to salute the Communist flag at an event celebrating the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.
Peter Yuen, then a Toronto Police Service (TPS) superintendent, attended a Queen’s Park ceremony in 2016 along with a half dozen other uniformed TPS officers to commemorate the authoritarian regime’s 67th anniversary alongside then-Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne.
In a photo published afterwards on the website of the People’s Republic of China Toronto Consulate, Yuen appears to be saluting the Chinese flag while it is being raised outside the legislature.
In his TPS uniform, Peter Yuen appearing to salute the Chinese flag as it is raised during a ceremony to commemorate the authoritarian regime’s 67th anniversary alongside then Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne outside Ontario’s legislature.
Toronto Consulate website / People’s Republic of China
Two years earlier, Global News found a photo of a uniformed Yuen at an event inside China’s Toronto consulate, published in The China Daily USA edition, showing him giving a plaque to outgoing PRC Toronto Consul Fang Li “in appreciation for his support and friendship during his term in office.”
The Toronto police officer and Chinese diplomat were surrounded by seven younger TPS officers, whose presence at the consulate event was not explained.
This 2016 photo shows Toronto Police Superintendant Peter Yuen (center left) giving a plaque to departing PRC Toronto consul Fang Li, surrounded by 7 other unidentified Toronto police officers. The event happened at the China consulate in Toronto.
Li Na / China Daily (USA Edition)
Presented with a detailed list of specific Global News questions about his attendance at these events, Yuen, who retired as a TPS deputy commissioner in 2022, offered only a general response:
“I am proud of my Hong Kong heritage, but I have been a Canadian citizen for over 45 years and have been honoured to serve my community on the front lines of the Toronto Police Service for more than 30 years.
“I am in this race because I am committed to building a strong, resilient, and united Canada. During the period you referenced, events of this nature were common among private and public institutions as a means to strengthen people-to-people ties.”
“In my capacity as a police officer, I attended public safety conferences around the world, including Taiwan. I believe in a strong Canada that stands firm in its defence of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. If I have the privilege of serving as a Member of Parliament, I will always support this work.”
Global News discovered Yuen’s participation in the two events after the National Post reported last week that Yuen also made a trip in 2015 to the People’s Republic of China, where he attended a Chinese military parade in Beijing at the invitation of the communist government.
Yuen said his participation in the trip was approved by Toronto police and his superiors “as part of a broader effort to recognize the role of Canada and its allies in the Second World War,” the National Post reported.
An NBC TV video report of the event showed China boldly displaying its growing military might for political reasons after a massive stock market crash.
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The NBC’s report shows leader Xi Jinping enjoying “wave after wave of goose-stepping soldiers, tanks and missiles” and watching aircraft as the military parade passed through (and above) Tiananmen Square. It showed Chinese leader Xi Jinping looking on approvingly alongside his guest of honour, Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“Most Western leaders stayed away,” the NBC report added.
Several news organizations have reported that Yuen also served briefly on the academic advisory board of a private Toronto high school that offers in-person and online classes to overseas Chinese students seeking to prepare for entry into Canadian and U.S. universities.
The Hogue Commission of Inquiry heard testimony — and received redacted CSIS briefing notes — that suggested some students from the high school were bussed to Han Dong’s bid to win the federal Liberal nomination in Don Valley North riding in 2019.
Dong testified at the inquiry that he did not know who arranged or paid for the buses that transported the students but also acknowledged that he had tried to recruit the students as political supporters during an earlier visit to a residence where the students stayed.
Justice Hogue cited classified intelligence holdings that suggested the efforts were part of an apparent attempt by the Chinese government to interfere with the outcome of that Liberal nomination.
Neither the Liberal Party nor Yuen responded to questions about when his tenure with the high school began or ended. Historical digital records of the NOIC Academy’s website reviewed by Global News listed Yuen as a member of its advisory board between at least March 30,2023, and Sept. 19, 2024.
Yuen’s uniformed appearance at the events in 2015 and 2016 coincided with China facing international censure.
The regime faced mounting allegations of systemic problems in its criminal justice system, which resulted in widespread torture and other ill treatment by Chinese police and unfair trials, according to human rights watchdog group Amnesty International.
Global News contacted former CSIS intelligence officer Dan Stanton and a pro-democracy leader in Toronto’s Chinese community for their reactions about the Yuen photos and his trip to Beijing.
Cheuk Kwan, co-chairman of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said he had several concerns about Yuen’s relationships with the Chinese consulate and conduct at PRC events.
Kwan said that while it is not wrong to pay tribute to a departing foreign consul general, it is a national matter usually handled by federal Canadian officials.
‘This is not something to be done by a local police officer.’
“This is national politics. This is not something to be done by a local police officer. That’s China overstepping its boundaries. The evidence is there. We’re left guessing the motive.”
“You see the line of Chinese Canadian policemen backing him. To me, that’s beyond pale and totally inappropriate,” Kwan added. “The problem is that these people see no problem doing that. It’s business as usual.”
“What we’re seeing is that this is not business as usual. This is a repressive regime. You’re cow-towing to somebody else,” Kwan added, saying Toronto police officers should not go to the PRC consulate in uniform and should not be saluting the PRC flag.
“There is a security concern, but there’s not much we can do to stop people from hob-knobbing with the consulate,” Kwan said.
Ex-CSIS officer Dan Stanton said he wasn’t concerned.
“There’s unlikely to be anything sinister or national security related to this very public acknowledgment to a diplomat. Consul Generals do good work in the community. Most do not have an intelligence role,” Stanton said, saying influence efforts would be hidden.
“The (other) TPS officers (in the two sets of event photos) probably have familial links to Hong Kong, so this plays well in Chinese media,” Stanton added.
During the period of Yuen’s trip and photos, however, Amnesty International published a detailed report that expressed concerns about PRC activities inside and outside the country in 2015 and 2016.
New laws presented serious threats to human rights
Amnesty said the PRC had drafted and enacted a series of new “national security laws” that presented serious threats to the protection of human rights.
“(Chinese) Police detained increasing numbers of human rights defenders outside of formal detention facilities, sometimes without access to a lawyer for long periods, exposing the detainees to the risk of torture and other ill-treatment,” the Amnesty report said.
“Booksellers, publishers, activists and a journalist who went missing in neighbouring countries in 2015 and 2016 turned up in detention in China, causing concerns about China’s law enforcement agencies acting outside their jurisdiction,” Amnesty added.
Kwan added there was no need for a TPS officer like Yuen to travel to Beijing to attend a military parade, either. He also questioned who paid for Yuen’s trip and why.
Kwan also remarked that a Canadian police officer also should not salute the flag of a repressive regime.
Toronto Police Service corporate spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer declined to answer questions about Yuen, nor did she respond to questions about who paid for his trip to the military parade in Beijing in 2015 or who approved it, instead referring the queries to Yuen.
Yuen did not answer Global News’ direct question about who paid his travel and accommodation expenses for the 2015 Beijing trip.
Media reports from the past several years suggest that raising and flying the Chinese flag in Toronto has become an increasingly controversial issue in Ontario, as the Chinese government has faced increasing allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections.
Similar events were halted at Queen’s Park in 2020 and in the City of Markham in 2019 following outcry from Chinese Canadian taxpayers and residents who protested such events, calling for them to be banned and for officials who organized them to apologize.
Yuen was hastily picked to run in Markham earlier this month after incumbent Liberal MP Paul Chiang was forced to withdraw. Yuen had launched an unsuccessful campaign in Ontario’s February election.
Chiang resigned after he made remarks suggesting Canadians turn in Joe Tay, a Tory candidate and pro-democracy Chinese activist, to the PRC Consulate in Toronto and collect a bounty. Chiang later apologized for his remarks, which caused outrage across Canada and calls for his resignation.
The Markham riding, which is home to one of Canada’s largest population of residents of Chinese ancestry, has been a magnet for political troubles and foreign influence efforts, including being the location of an alleged overseas Chinese secret police station that was shuttered by the RCMP.
