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Exclusive investigation: United Front groups in Canada helped Beijing stockpile coronavirus safety supplies https://globalnews.ca/news/6858818/coronavirus-china-united-front-canada-protective-equipment-shortage/ ... investigation identified some PPE actors associated with organized crime suspects
2. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, they are buying all the N95 supply in the world,’” Mexico's former ambassador to China Jorge Guajardo told Global News.
4. "The operation looks even worse under a magnifying glass because some organizations seemingly involved in the United Front’s efforts in Canada include members that have previously been monitored or investigated by the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) ..."
5. One source told me in January it became well-known amongst military and emergency services that China was stockpiling masks and basically buying out as many quantities as it could,” @ErinOTooleMP said. “Senior officials in the end of January, are equally aware at Public Works
6. At least one of the Vancouver-led groups that appears to be involved with CACA in Beijing’s PPE drive, the Guangdong Overseas Chinese Federation, includes members who have attracted the attention of Canadian national security and law enforcement investigations, sources said.
7. CACA is a “controlling level” United Front group in Canada, according to Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat who has defected to Australia.
8. A review by Global News of Panama Papers offshore banking records and B.C. criminal and civil court records shows that some Canada Chao Shan members — who are mostly located in Vancouver but also in southern China — are connected to alleged underground financial activities.
9. The suspects connected to Xun Chuang were allegedly involved in real estate lending and casino loan-sharking operations connected to drug trafficking and underground banking in Richmond, B.C., and mainland China.
10. Alex Joske, a United Front expert, said that the All-China Federation of Returned Chinese Overseas — of which the Guangdong federations in Canada and Australia are a part — is an increasingly important part of Chinese President Xi’s United Front diaspora control strategy.
11. In Australia, we’ve observed overlap between political influence operations, intelligence agencies and organized crime,” Joske said. “For example, a gambling junket operator and alleged criminal figure who also runs groups that report back to the United Front Work Department.
12. “The United Front Works Department is, to put it very simply, a political warfare operation,” Jon Manthorpe said. “It’s in all the embassies and consulates in Canada.”
13. "To me, it is utterly unconscionable that here are Canadians who are being intimidated and pressured in their own country by foreign agents,” Manthorpe said. “These are assaults on our sovereignty, and on our national interest. And they are assaults on our citizens."
14. “The CCP’s United Front activities incorporate co-opting elites, information management, persuasion, as well as accessing strategic information and resources. It has also frequently been a means of facilitating espionage.” https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/csis-scrs/documents/publications/CSIS-Academic-Outreach-China-report-May-2018-en.pdf
15. Working on stories for more platforms - some have asked about the political strings with China's mask leverage. Here's an evident example. https://twitter.com/TaiwanNews886/status/1255692063703658497 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3925556
16. UF network knowledge is learned by following China-influence and language specialists like @alexjoske — with a thread here on Australia’s notorious UF corruption case https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/999766265756463104?s=21 https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/999766265756463104
17. Australia media citing new leaked 5 Eyes ‘dossier’ on PRC Coronavirus coverup. China failing to share samples of the virus for vaccines is one allegation.
18. Some more from me on United Front WD evident efforts to penetrate Canadian politics through CCP and People’s Liberation Army veteran real estate tycoons. Much more to come on this https://globalnews.ca/news/6635480/canadian-mayors-may-have-unwittingly-been-targets-of-chinese-influence-campaign/
19. My former colleague Doug Quan, detailed reporting on evidence of increasing grip of United Front Work Department and Chinese Consulate on formerly independent Chinese Canadian community groups in BC https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/silence-on-tiananmen-anniversary-could-be-sign-of-chinas-influence-on-canadian-community-groups-critics-323103/
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24. https://twitter.com/mercedesglobal/status/1258512160554008576?s=21 https://twitter.com/MercedesGlobal/status/1258512160554008576
26. https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/1259063127724838914?s=21 https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/1259063127724838914
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30. Whether or not China did pressure the WHO on declaring a global emergency in January, that is a subject for the WHO to answer in an Inquiry, they have been denying the allegations. This Jan. 30 WHO statement does seem to have some defensive lines. https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-statement-on-ihr-emergency-committee-on-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
31. The speed with which China detected the outbreak, isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with WHO and the world are very impressive, and beyond words. So is China’s commitment to transparency and to supporting other countries.
32. Thanks to their efforts, the number of cases in the rest of the world so far has remained relatively small.
33. The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries.
34. Let me be clear: this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak.
35. "As you know, I was in China just a few days ago, where I met with President Xi Jinping. I left in absolutely no doubt about China’s commitment to transparency, and to protecting the world’s people," Tedros stated, on January 30, 2020.
36. If WHO's response will be examined in an international forum, I would guess that any communications between Tedros and Xi, including this meeting days before Jan. 30, will be explored.
37. Extremely insightful essay — China’s leaders are United Front warfare thought leaders, not military heroes. Following the PPE story I have full visibility on an evident response https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2018/august/1533045600/john-garnaut/australia-s-china-reset
China’s govt denies involvement in the UFWD operation in Canada and meddling in diaspora groups https://twitter.com/amandacconn/status/1261648629586169861?s=21 https://twitter.com/amandacconn/status/1261648629586169861
