Canada-China Relations committee  As I said at the beginning, I think there is potential risk of undue influence, and that this may become foreign interference. I think we also need to understand why there is a demand for Confucius Institute programs. People want to learn the Chinese language and take Chinese pro

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for the question. I think the Confucius Institute is funded by the Chinese government to promote Chinese languages and Chinese culture overseas. Its actual operation and its consequences on host countries vary from one locality to another. Sometimes with Confucius I

Canada-China Relations committee  Theft is potentially an issue. I'm not aware of any of those incidents. I'm a social scientist; I'm not in engineering. My research is not funded by Huawei and those politically sensitive areas.

Canada-China Relations committee  Any informed and smart person—like anyone in this room—would know the elephant in the room. I think by being agnostic, we can prevent a lot of finger-pointing and racial profiling.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think that needs to be studied very carefully by legal experts as well as intelligence experts. Where my expertise comes in is that from my vantage point, I do hear a lot of fearmongering on social media. I'm not saying that there's no potential of threat. There is also the p

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for that opportunity and the question. For number one, I would recommend that we boost our immunity by educating relevant government agencies on the risk of foreign interference and espionage. As someone who knows and understands China, I am also quite alarmed by some

Canada-China Relations committee  Absolutely. I would reiterate my position. I think there are potential risks. From my vantage point, I am not privy to any intelligence information. I think there is the potential for risks, but we must boost our immunity by becoming more prepared—

Canada-China Relations committee  I think that would be a grave mistake. I think the university sector benefits greatly from exchanges and interaction with Chinese partners. It's on a continuum. We are so naive or ignorant about all the risks, and then we expose ourselves to the risks. If we become more educated

Canada-China Relations committee  Sure.

Canada-China Relations committee  Chairman Regan, vice-chairs and distinguished members of the special committee, it's an honour be here. Thank you for the generous invitation to testify before the committee today for a second time. Given today's topic of foreign interference, I would like to start with some def