Canadian Liberal MP Paul Chiang (蒋振宇), who currently represents the district of Markham–Unionville in Ontario, has withdrawn from Canada’s 2025 federal election following a scandal around remarks he made at a Chinese-language media news conference in January. Chiang had stated that Joe Tay (郑敬基), who was then seeking the Conservative nomination in the Markham–Unionville, should be brought to the Toronto Chinese Consulate in exchange for a 1 million HKD bounty that had been placed on Tay by the Hong Kong Police.
Joe Tay had relocated to Canada and had launched an online media platform there. The Hong Kong National Security Police placed him on a HK$ 1 million (US$ 129,000) wanted list last year; Tay has claimed this was an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cripple his candidacy in the Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) election for Markham–Unionville.
Paul Chiang, the incumbent Liberal MP and a former local police officer, stated in an interview with a local Chinese newspaper that Tay is wanted by the Hong Kong authorities and whoever took Tay to the Chinese consulate could earn the HK$ 1 million reward.
On March 25, the Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC) organization condemned Chiang’s remarks, accusing him of aiding CCP’s transnational repression and endangering Canadian citizens.
Chiang’s team first responded that Chiang’s comment was meant as a joke. Chiang formally apologized on the X platform, saying on March 28 that his statement had been inappropriate. Over 40 organizations soon issued a joint statement rejecting his apology as “insincere,” urging the Liberal Party to revoke his candidacy.
On March 31, Chiang announced his withdrawal from the election.
The Canada-Hong Kong Link (港加联), one of the groups pushing for Chiang’s resignation, called his withdrawal “a small victory for the people”, vowing to closely monitor all candidates to “eliminate the CCP’s infiltration.”
Source: Radio France International, April 2, 2025
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20250402-曾着人把郑敬基送中领馆取百万悬红-前警长蒋振宇宣布退选加国议会