"This is Chinese territory"? The threat outside the Toronto Consulate, how to extract a letter from a Canadian congressman.

On the morning of 22 September, outside the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, Lina Li and Nora Geng were prepared to display banners on the public sidewalk against the persecution of Falun Gong. A man with a Chinese flag sign in his chest jacket approached and pulled the display board. Lina went up and stopped, and the man pushed her, threatened her with death and claimed that her standing place belonged to “Chinese territory”. Nora picked up the equipment and shot, and the man tried to kick her. He left before the police arrived.

The most prominent political detail of this conflict on the Canadian public sidewalk was the fact that the attackers had invoked China ' s Anti-Secession Law to threaten protesters in Canada. This was not a power conferred on him by Canadian law, but rather an act of moving Beijing political language to the streets of another country. The police in Toronto confirmed to the media that the incident had been investigated. Evidence and findings are still needed as to whether the men concerned have an employment or command relationship with the official Chinese authorities.

22 September: banners pulled and wounded left

The video and interviews with the client by Omid Ghoreishi, an age journalist, showed that men had demolished several panels. Lina's jaw was bleeding from wounds sustained during the clashes. The police spokesman for Toronto, Shannon Eames, stated that the police had reported that the slogan had been broken and the participants threatened, and that the suspects had fled before the officers arrived. Eyewitness Nora stated that while men destroyed the banner, they told protesters of threats involving Chinese law. The site of the incident was the pedestrians of Canadian cities, not within the Chinese Consulate.

On 24 September, Lina recalled at a press conference outside the Consulate that she had been running to protect the banner; The bystanders have been on the spot reminding violent men that this is Canada. Her statement with Nora made the attack no longer a vague video on social media but a public security incident with specific victims, specific locations and police responses.

13 October: Members of Congress asked the Foreign Minister to investigate

On 13 October, Conservative Member of Parliament Jacob Mantle publicly addressed a letter to Canada's Foreign Minister, Anita Anand. According to public reports on 14 October, he requested the Government to investigate the identity of the attackers; If the investigation proves that the person is a Chinese diplomat or an agent employed by a foreign government, the corresponding measures shall be taken, such as expulsion. The conditions are very important: the parliamentarians requested an investigation and did not declare that the attackers had been identified as Chinese personnel.

Other Canadian party parliamentarians also responded. In an interview with Ming Hui on 15 October, the Party of Liberals, Congressman Judy Sgro, MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, MP Jenny Kwan, and others spoke of foreign intervention, security and legislative gaps for overseas Chinese. Jenny Kwan noted that the existing foreign impact transparency system in Canada was no substitute for measures specifically designed to address transnational repression. The incidents thus involved street conflicts handled by the police and political controversy over the Government ' s ability to protect dissidents in the country.

The Beijing political ban cannot be the law of the streets of Toronto

The political pressure of the Communist Party on Falun Gong, which began in 1999, has also long been a subject of concern for believers and dissidents abroad. But by the time of the attack on 22 September, the Chinese Consulate could not be concluded that the attackers had directed him simply by using Chinese political slogans in Chinese-flagged jackets. The investigation must answer who he is, whether he is appointed, whether he is guilty of a crime and whether there is any foreign government involvement.

Nor should the command relationship be diluted by the already public video, statement of injuries and police investigation as it has not yet been established. What is really needed is the Canadian Government's answer: can a person who stands on the streets of Toronto and faces a threat to his life from Chinese law, be protected by Canadian law? This concerns both Lina and Nora and any Canadian resident who has been intimidated by criticism of foreign governments.