Canada task force says ex-FM Freeland target of China-linked campaign

8/2/2025 13:01

A Canadian task force said on Friday that malicious news articles originating on Chinese social media tried to disparage former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the leader of the Liberal Party.



The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) said it detected "coordinated and malicious activity" targeting Freeland that was traced to an anonymous but popular news account on Chinese social media platform WeChat.



The federal elections monitoring task force said in a statement, the anonymous WeChat blog has been previously linked by experts at the California-based China Digital Times to China.



Freeland said on social media platform X, "I will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference. Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms."



The Chinese embassy in Canada said it was not aware of any such campaign. Beijing has repeatedly denied all allegations of attempted interference in Canadian affairs.