China's reach on campus
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An MP Monday disclosed records indicating the federal spy agency in 2019 warned the University of British Columbia of its close cash dealings with Huawei Technologies Co, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Conservatives demanded an investigation of China’s reach into Canadian universities.
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“I have a couple of hundred pages of emails,” said MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.)
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“These were obtained under a Freedom Of Information request in British Columbia.”
Speaking Monday at a hearing of the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, Genuis read aloud a Jan. 22, 2019 faculty email sent to the executive director of UBC’s China Council stating the Canadian Security Intelligence Service “has issued warnings already about the risks of research and other collaboration with Huawei in particular.”
Huawei funds a sponsorship program at the university that pays applicants to travel to China and visit the telecom company headquarters. MP Genuis read aloud other emails indicating UBC professors discussed “negotiating with Huawei” for sponsorships.
In a heated response, the executive director of UBC’s China Council said the claims were misleading.
“This is really taken out of context,” said Prof. Yves Tiberghien, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “This is picking one little thing out of a hundred others.”
Tiberghien said he could not recall individual emails since “I have three hundred, 400 a day.”
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However, under questioning with MP Genuis moments before the records were disclosed, the China Council director specifically denied discussing Huawei matters.
MP Genuis: “Has CSIS ever issued warnings to you or the University that you know of about the risks of collaborating with Huawei?”
Professor: “Not to me, no…”
MP Genuis: “Are professors on the China Council ever involved in commercial negotiations with Huawei?”
Professor: “No.”
Genuis estimated UBC and Huawei had “partnerships” worth $7.6 million over three years.
“It’s interesting, the level of exposure that UBC has,” he said.
The MP served notice of a motion to have the committee investigate “the relationship between Canadian universities and Chinese government-controlled entities.” A vote was deferred.
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West, Ont.), parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, opposed the campus probe.
“I don’t think the internal workings of one institution are in the particular purview of this committee,” said Oliphant.
Other Canadian universities have been approached to open China-endorsed Confucius Institutes in collaboration with Communist Party-run agencies.
Senators last May 8 protested Senator Peter Harder (Ont.), then cabinet’s representative in the Chamber, remained listed as an honorary director of the Confucius Institute at Carleton University in Ottawa. Senator Harder remains listed on the institute’s website.
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