VANCOUVER—Burnaby South’s federal Liberal candidate insists that his participation in a 2014 ribbon-cutting for the launch of a Chinese-state-owned media publication was simply part of his role as a politician.

Richard Lee sent a statement to StarMetro on Friday in response to questions about his relationship with China Daily, China’s national English newspaper. In the statement, Lee says he’s attended a wide array of events with different media organizations, “including many that published opinions that I may not have agreed with.”

The ribbon-cutting was reported in the Chinese-language publication Lahoo on Dec. 13, 2014, following the launch of China Daily in the Metro Vancouver area the day before.

China Daily is an official mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party. President Xi Jinping has specifically stated that the role of Chinese media is to be an agent for the Chinese Communist Party and to serve its interests.

Lee was one of four Metro Vancouver politicians — alongside Burnaby city councillor James Wang, Richmond city councillor Bill McNulty and Vancouver city councillor Raymond Louie — sitting on a panel in the front of the room with name cards. They were all photographed at the 2014 launch event.

“The specific event that you’re referencing from five years ago was attended by elected officials who have different political leanings and have served in multiple orders of government,” Lee said in the statement.

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Lee added it “won’t come as a surprise” since he spent years doing Asia Pacific work with the B.C. government, which involves business events related to China and other economies.

Two weeks ago, Lee announced his run for a federal seat in Burnaby South, following the resignation of the original Liberal pick, Karen Wang. She resigned after StarMetro reported controversial posts she made on the Chinese social-media app WeChat.

Canadian politicians have been under scrutiny following recent events that have stressed Canada-China relations, including the arrest and pending extradition of a Huawei executive in Vancouver. Another incident is the resignation of Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum; experts suggested his off-script remarks show Beijing was successfully employing strategies from a “well-honed playbook” designed to sway ambassadors into representing state-friendly perspectives.

Cheuk Kwan, who has spent 25 years as the head of a Chinese-Canadian community organization called the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, questioned Lee’s involvement in such a deeply embedded Chinese-state publication.

He said that China’s “standard recruiting” methods for wooing politicians include favourable business contracts, lavish party invites and flying families to vacation in China to foster a sense of loyalty.

At the time of the China Daily launch, Lee was a BC Liberal MLA for Burnaby North — where he served for 16 years — and became the deputy speaker in the legislature the following year. The Lahoo article stated there were more than 60 politicians and community social leaders in attendance.

Lee also served as parliamentary secretary for Asia Pacific strategy to the minister of international trade, where he said his focus was “always about creating good middle-class jobs.”

A release from the Chinese consulate confirmed the launch of China Daily in British Columbia. It noted that Liu Fei, the former Vancouver consul general of the People’s Republic of China, was in attendance. Liu said in the release that economic and cultural exchanges between Canada and China have increased.

The launch “will help the Canadian community to fully understand the rapidly developing China and to facilitate Chinese readers to understand the situation of Canada and B.C.,” the release read.

The push to disseminate China Daily in Western countries has been intensifying, according to Sarah Cook, senior research analyst at Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to expanding democracy worldwide.

“You have a situation where you’re basically trying to get these monopoly opportunities where people see the information,” Cook said. “Then, you get to more covert sneakiness of introducing it into other publications as an insert.”

China Daily inserts have been spotted from Capitol Hill in the United States to Kenyan Airway magazines, she added.

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In his statement, Lee did not directly answer whether he had any relationship with China Daily or the Chinese government.

“Throughout and even before my political career representing families here in Burnaby, advocating for human rights both in Canada and throughout the world has been a deep passion of mine,” Lee’s statement reads. “That advocacy has often seen me work closely with Canadians from all different political parties and backgrounds.”

The statement adds that Lee has always believed that resolute support for democracy, individual freedom and the rule of law is a core Canadian value.

“I never shied away from speaking my mind on essential questions of human rights and I never will.”

Indeed, Lee was an outspoken supporter of pro-democracy student activists who gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during the spring of 1989.

In 1992, Lee was expelled from China when he was there with an all-party parliamentary delegation headed by NDP MP Svend Robinson. Military officers surrounded their bus and hauled MPs into a police station.

Robinson told StarMetro that Lee was a key part of the pro-democracy delegation. He helped to organize, interpret and set up meetings, including with families of those killed or imprisoned after Tiananmen Square.

“But after he was elected into public office, Richard Lee never said another word as a supporter of human rights, democracy or the rule of law. To the best of my knowledge, absolutely nothing,” Robinson said.

“It’s very sad that this person who was such a strong advocate for human rights and democracy should turn into a cheerleader for China Daily.”

This is something we’ve seen before in Canadian politics, Robinson added.

“I am deeply concerned about the extent to which the government of China is actively and aggressively seeking to impose its views through the media.”

Lee will face federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Conservative Jay Shin, People’s Party of Canada candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and independent candidate Valentine Wu in the highly anticipated Burnaby South byelection on Feb. 25.

With files from Jenny Peng and Jeremy Nuttall

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