By Canadian Press

Ex-minister denounces racism against senator he called mouthpiece for China

Oct 4, 2021 | 3:50 PM

OTTAWA — A former diplomat and cabinet minister is denouncing the anti-Asian racism directed at a Canadian senator he’s called a mouthpiece for China.

Chris Alexander says he has serious concerns that Sen. Yuen Pau Woo retweeted a Toronto Star column that suggested Canada assisted the United States in taking Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou “hostage” as part of the American trade and technology war with China.

He says that view parrots the line propagated by the Chinese communist regime that Meng’s arrest was politically motivated, despite the fact that Canada followed the rule of law.

But Alexander says he was not implying that Woo or any parliamentarian has willingly become a spokesperson for a foreign government.

A tweet by Alexander last week — calling on Woo to resign because “mouthpieces for foreign propaganda … should have no place in Canada’s Parliament” — triggered a torrent of racist responses that, among other things, said the senator should be sent back to China.

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Alexander says Woo, the leader of the Independent Senators Group, does not deserve to endure “even a syllable” of that kind of commentary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2021.

The Canadian Press