'Ploy to attack, smear China': Beijing on accusation of disinformation campaign targeting Trudeau

Amid the diplomatic spat between India and Canada over the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning on Tuesday urged Canada to stop peddling “China-related lies”.

Ning was responding to a claim by Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly that an organisation linked to China was spreading information related to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other senior officials and the members of Parliament through comments and “deepfake” videos online.

Addressing a press briefing in Beijing, Mao said the statement by Canada’s foreign ministry was a misrepresentation of facts and such ‘lies’ could further damage bilateral relations between the two countries.

“The so-called statement by Canada’s foreign ministry misrepresents facts and is very misleading, which makes trumped-up charges against China,” she said.

She added that China firmly condemns her statement.

“We deplore and firmly oppose that (Canadian Foreign minister’s statement),” she said.

She added that while Canadian side has been falsely accusing China of spreading disinformation, they never showed any evidence to prove it.

“For some time, the Canadian side has falsely accused China of spreading disinformation against Canadian politicians on multiple occasions, but it has never come up with any solid evidence,” she said.

She said Canada has been making up lies, including on Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong, to attack and smear China.

“It is the Canadian side that has been producing and spreading disinformation. We urge the Canadian side to respect facts and truth, stop spreading China-related lies, and stop words and deeds that would poison the atmosphere of China-Canada relations and damage bilateral relations,” she added.

With inputs from agencies