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Under assault : interference and espionage in China's secret war against Canada  Cover Image Book Book

Under assault : interference and espionage in China's secret war against Canada / Dennis Molinaro.

Summary:

"National security expert Dennis Molinaro reveals the shocking details of Beijing's five-decades-long effort to influence and interfere in Canadian political life. From cultivating future political leaders at the end of the Cultural Revolution to the foreign-interference scandals that have shaken present-day Ottawa, this definitive book addresses one of the most pressing issues of our time. Amidst heightened tensions between Western nations and China, Canadians have found themselves astonished by hostage crises, cyberattacks, harassment of members of our government, and theft of intellectual property worth untold billions of dollars. From Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's earliest journeys through the "Middle Kingdom" prior to his election to Parliament in the 1960s, the communist government of the People's Republic of China has perceived Canada as a staging ground for spying on and pressuring its ultimate target, the United States. As Canada's first tech giant, Nortel, was plundered of intellectual property by digital spies; as Canada was manipulated into advocating against the independence of Taiwan, infuriating our closest ally; and as Chinese Canadians were targeted in the country where they thought they'd escaped Mao's terrors, Canada's leaders have too often seen only what they want to see in China: an emerging market of inestimable value, and fertile soil for democratic change for a long-tyrannized people. Generations of Communist leadership have gladly allowed Canada to labour under these misapprehensions, even when the evidence of China's spying, theft, and harassment of Canadian citizens has been happening right before their eyes. The intelligence has always been available, but Canada has rarely allowed itself to believe what the rest of the world has long understood. Thoroughly researched and guided by the author's experience as a historian and China specialist in Canadian intelligence, and informed by numerous interviews with generations of Canadian politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats, as well as members of Canada's Chinese community who have endured this harassment for too long, Shadows of the Dragon is a timely, eye-opening account of a country compromised by its own illusions in a time of rising global conflict"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781039011700 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: xi, 328 pages ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: Toronto, ON : Random House Canada, 2025.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subject: Espionage, Chinese > Canada.
Canada > Foreign relations > China.
China > Foreign relations > Canada.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Cookstown Branch 327.71051 Mol 31681010445658 NONFIC Available -

  • Random House, Inc.
    A Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Book in 2025

    FOREWORD BY CHERIE WONG

    National security expert Dennis Molinaro reveals the shocking details of Beijing’s five-decades-long effort to influence and interfere in Canadian political life. From cultivating future political leaders at the end of the Cultural Revolution to the foreign-interference scandals that have shaken present-day Ottawa, this definitive book addresses one of the most urgent issues of our time.


    Amidst heightened tensions between Western nations and China, Canadians have found themselves astonished by hostage crises, cyberattacks, harassment of members of our government, and theft of intellectual property worth untold billions of dollars. Guided by Molinaro’s experience as a historian and China specialist, Under Assault focuses on the actions of the People’s Republic of China’s government and its governing party, the Chinese Communist Party, against Canada during the past fifty years.

    From Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s earliest journeys through the “Middle Kingdom” prior to his election to Parliament in the 1960s, the communist government of the PRC has perceived Canada as a staging ground for spying on and pressuring its ultimate target, the United States. When Canada’s first tech giant, Nortel, was plundered of intellectual property by digital spies; while Canada was manipulated into advocating against the independence of Taiwan; and as Chinese Canadians were targeted in the country where they thought they’d escaped Mao’s terrors, Canada’s leaders have too often seen only what they want to see in China: an emerging market of inestimable value and fertile soil for democratic change for a long-tyrannized people. Generations of Communist leadership have gladly allowed Canada’s government to labour under these misapprehensions, even when the evidence of China’s spying, theft and harassment of Canadian citizens has been happening right before its eyes. Canada has rarely allowed itself to believe what the rest of the world has long understood.

    Informed by numerous interviews with generations of Canadian politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats; members of diaspora communities targeted by China who have endured this harassment for too long; as well as by new revelations from recently declassified CSIS documents, Under Assault is a timely, eye-opening account of a country compromised by its own illusions in a time of rising global conflict and a burgeoning new world order.

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