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The creation of a volunteers corps does, however, “fit into the official Chinese Communist Party rhetoric that Canada is a hostile and dangerous place for ethnic Chinese so they should identify with and seek the protection of the PRC authorities,” Burton said.

Gordon Houlden, director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, said China has always shown an interest in the Chinese diaspora and where the government wishes to keep in touch with PRC nationals, that is allowed within Canada, as long as there is no coercion or improper pressure.

But where it becomes problematic is if there are efforts to rally Canadians of Chinese origin to support particular PRC policy positions.

“In short, contact with Chinese nationals in Canada is one thing. But where China might be engaged in efforts to shape the views of the broad Chinese-Canadian community or to push a particular point of view, that is another matter,” Houlden said.

It is true that Canadian missions abroad try to influence public views towards Canada, he said. “But if the point of the campaign is rather focused on loyalty to a foreign state that is quite distinct.”

Where China might be engaged in efforts to shape the views of the broad Chinese-Canadian community or to push a particular point of view, that is another matter

Among the volunteer recruits pictured on the Chinese consulate’s website are Hilbert Yiu and James Chu, the current and former presidents of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, an umbrella group for more than 100 Chinese associations.

The association made headlines earlier this year when it took out large ads in Chinese-language newspapers that denounced protesters in Hong Kong as “radicals” and appeared to support the Chinese Communist Party’s position on a proposed extradition bill between China and Hong Kong. (The association said the ads were not intended to promote the Chinese government’s point of view but to support “peace in Hong Kong.”)