Chinese émigrés yesterday pleaded with the China inquiry to counter harassment campaigns targeting dissidents in Canada. Witnesses testified foreign agents typically tried to bully pro-democracy activists into silence.

“The People’s Republic of China encourages its members and supporters to join organizations locally,” testified Winnie Ng, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China. “It could be a community service agency, associations, whatever means possible, to permeate and perpetuate these organizations in an attempt to expand influence.”