Canadian foreign interference agency says it detected a 'malicious activity' targeting candidate

OTTAWA, Ontario — A Canadian government department that tracks suspected foreign interference said Friday it has detected a ''coordinated and malicious activity'' targeting federal Liberal Party leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland.

A release from the Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, based at Global Affairs Canada, said the activity has been traced to a WeChat account linked to the Chinese government.

''The launch of this information operation was traced to WeChat's most popular news account – an anonymous blog that has been previously linked by experts at the China Digital Times to the People's Republic of China,'' the release said. ''RRM Canada identified over 30 WeChat news accounts taking part in the campaign. The campaign received very high levels of engagement and views.''

The release said members of Freeland's campaign and the executive of the Liberal Party of Canada have been briefed on the findings.

Freeland responded to the news release with a post on X Friday evening.

''I will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference,'' said the former deputy prime minister. ''Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms."

It was Freeland's abrupt resignation as finance minister in December that forced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to say he is resigning as prime minister and party leader.

Trudeau is to remain prime minister until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen on March 9.

In response to media questions, the Chinese Embassy in Canada said it was not aware of the so-called campaign mentioned in a statement.

''But I want to emphasize that it is absurd and makes no sense to attack and smear China merely based on the fabricated remarks of some so-called experts. China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes this,'' an unidentified embassy spokesperson said.

It said the leadership race of the Liberal Party is Canada's internal affairs, which China has no interest in interfering in. It also opposed linking Canada's internal affairs with China-related factors, saying maliciously discrediting China is not helpful to the healthy development of China-Canada relations.