Articles by Robert Fife and Steven Chase

May 12 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada’s spy agency urged the removal of security clearances for two scientists who were later dismissed from the country’s top infectious-disease laboratory because of national-security concerns relating to their work with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to two sources. In January of this year, Xiangguo Qiu, who headed the Vaccine Development and Antiviral Therapies […]

May 4 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Alberta government is expressing alarm and vowing to take action to curtail the University of Alberta’s collaboration with China in strategically important scientific and technology fields. Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he intends to speak to the University of Alberta’s administration about the need to curb scientific research that could undermine Canada’s national […]

Apr 9 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada’s elections watchdog has been making inquiries about whether WE Charity carried out activities that benefited the Liberal Party in violation of electoral laws, according to a researcher who said a senior investigator from the office recently interviewed her. Vivian Krause, an independent researcher and blogger who testified about WE Charity at the House of […]

Apr 5 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada is being urged to join an informal four-country alliance that is taking on greater significance in the Indo-Pacific amid rising concerns over China’s expanding military and political influence in the region. For the first time earlier this year, the Royal Canadian Air Force participated in exercise Sea Dragon, an anti-submarine warfare drill in Guam […]

Mar 29 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canadians can purchase bath towels, quilts and clothes through online retailers such as Amazon and eBay that are advertised as made with cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, a crop that human-rights activists and academics say is almost certainly the product of forced labour. Critics say the ease with which consumers can purchase Xinjiang cotton products […]

Mar 24 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Eight foreigners suspected of espionage, subversion or terrorism were removed from Canada last year, according to the federal government. The department of Public Safety would not reveal the countries that the individuals were acting on behalf of, citing privacy laws, nor the specific nature of their activities in Canada. “However, we can tell you that […]

Mar 19 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Global consulting giant McKinsey and Co. is declining to provide a Canadian parliamentary committee with the lists of Chinese state-owned enterprises that Dominic Barton, Canada’s envoy to Beijing, worked for during the nine years he headed the firm. Opposition MPs had requested this information to determine whether Mr. Barton is in a conflict of interest […]

Mar 17 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Canadian government is counting on President Joe Biden’s proposed reset of U.S.-China relations to open the door for the release of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, according to senior federal officials. In talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mr. Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris have shown great sympathy for the plight of the […]

Mar 10 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — China is a growing threat to Canadian interests in the Arctic because of its “voracious appetite” for natural resources, a top Department of National Defence official warned Wednesday. In surprisingly frank comments to the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence, deputy minister Jody Thomas said Beijing is turning its attention to Canada’s Northwest Passage as […]

Mar 9 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — A foundation with Canadian connections and murky origins that operated out of a house in Southern California has been offering Canadian academics and scientists business-class flights to China and stays at five-star hotels in exchange for sharing their research. Shrawan Kumar, a pioneer in spinal biomechanics, turned down an invitation earlier this year from the […]

Mar 7 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — A strong majority of Canadians both approve of Parliament’s declaration that China is carrying out genocide against its Uyghur Muslim minority and favour a harder line toward the country, including economic sanctions and moving the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing. A poll by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail shows that 83 per […]

Mar 3 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning Beijing of “possible consequences” from the international community after its envoy to Canada dismissed reports of genocide, forced labour and relocations of Uyghur Muslims as the “lie of the century.” Ambassador Cong Peiwu held a virtual news conference Wednesday with select Canadians news outlets, including The Globe and Mail, […]

Feb 25 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Documents filed in a Toronto court provide yet another link between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and come to light as U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to release an intelligence report that concludes the kingdom’s de facto ruler approved the killing. Saudi records, filed in […]

Feb 18 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister and a leading voice on human rights, is urging Justin Trudeau to take steps to recognize that China is conducting acts of genocide against its Muslim minority. Mr. Cotler said the federal government could either ask the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on whether China is committing […]

Feb 18 2021 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — A former Saudi spy chief living in exile in Toronto says the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, believes he is the source of the Central Intelligence Agency’s conclusion that the ruler ordered the assassination of Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.