China on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, announced the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat in a retaliatory move after Canada ordered a Chinese consular official to leave the country over alleged threats he made against a Canadian lawmaker and his family.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry which made the announcement, said the Asian country was deploying a “reciprocal countermeasure to Canada’s unscrupulous move which it firmly opposes.”
In the statement, the Canadian diplomat, Jennnifer Lynn Lalonde, was ordered to leave the country by May 13 and that China “reserves the right to take further actions in response.”
Canada, in a statement earlier on Tuesday, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is expelling a Chinese diplomat whom Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate an opposition lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong.
A senior Canadian government official said the Toronto-based diplomat Zhao Wei was given five days to leave the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement that Canada declared Zhao “persona non grata” and that Canada would “not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs.”
“Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behavior, they will be sent home,” she said.
