The newly minted BC Conservative MLA Teresa Wat says that she is just as skeptical of the Chinese government as she is of all foreign governments after appearing at an event in which she sang the Chinese national anthem.
Wat was seen at the Lantern Festival banquet at Richmond, BC’s River Rock casino in February 2023, celebrating the lunar new year.
Wat could be seen singing March of the Volunteers, the Chinese Communist’s national anthem and was given the opportunity to speak before the event’s audience in Mandarin.
The clip of Wat resurfaced after the now-deleted website “firejohnrustad.ca,” which was promoted to BC Conservative members, accused the MLA of having “strong ties to Beijing” while condemning BC Conservative leader John Rustad for allowing her to join the party.
At the February event, Wat sat at the same table as the Chinese consul general to Vancouver Yang Shu and members of the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations – a pro-China business group that, among other things, supports China’s annexation of Taiwan.
In a response to a question from True North asking why Wat decided to attend the event, she says that she made the appearance to show her support and respect for BC’s Chinese community.
“As a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I attend events with different community groups all the time. For me, attending this event related to the lunar new year and spring festival was no different,” said Wat.
“I was simply there to engage with the Chinese community and show my respect alongside other publicly elected officials.”
Wat says that as a former citizen of Hong Kong, she came to Canada to commit herself to public service as a Canadian.
“I came to Canada in 1989 from Hong Kong while it was under British rule. Since then I have dedicated my life to public service in Canada,” said Wat.
When asked about her views on the Chinese government, she says that we must treat China like all other foreign governments – with caution.
“I believe that as Canadians we must be cautious of all foreign governments, including China. I am obviously concerned about reports and allegations of interference in our elections by foreign governments,” said Wat.
True North asked Wat for her views on Canada’s diplomatic and trade relationship with China. She said that she is concerned with foreign interference and that we need to pursue Canadian values in our trade relationships.
“While this is a federal issue, I am concerned about reports and allegations of interference in our elections by foreign governments and think we need to fully investigate what happened,” said Wat.
“Our global trade relationships are important, but we must always uphold our Canadian values and laws.”
British Columbia has become the focal point for questions relating to foreign interference into Canadian elections.
Last year, the Globe & Mail reported on a CSIS document claiming that China’s former consul general for Vancouver Tong Xiaoling sought to advance the Chinese Communist Party’s interests by grooming Chinese-Canadians politicians for higher office.
Xiaoling worked to elect pro-China politicians during the 2022 Vancouver municipal election in which the Chinese-Canadian mayor Ken Sims defeated incumbent Kennedy Stewart in a landslide.
Sims rejected the insinuation that he had worked with or received aid from the Chinese Communist Party, stating that he would not have been the subject of these allegations if he had white skin.
Former Conservative MP for British Columbia’s Steveston–Richmond East Kenny Chiu has repeatedly claimed that his election defeat in 2021 was, in part, a result of foreign interference from China.
In late July, Wat left BC United to join the BC Conservatives to seek re-election under their banner, joining MLAs Lorne Doerkson and Elenore Sturko.
BC United accused Wat’s staff of exporting large amounts of confidential BC United information before she announced her decision to abandon the party.