Canadian accusation of spreading disinformation a ploy to attack, smear China: Beijing official

Beijing [China]: Amid the still-going diplomatic spat with India over a claim that its agents were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, on Tuesday urged Canada to respect facts and truth and stop peddling "China-related lies".

Addressing a press briefing at the Chinese capital, Beijing, on Tuesday, Mao said such 'lies' could further damage bilateral relations between the two countries.

Ning made these remarks in response to a claim by Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly that an organisation connected to China was spreading information related to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other senior officials and the members of Parliament through comments and "deepfake" videos online.

Mao said the statement by Canada's foreign ministry was a misrepresentation of facts.
"The so-called statement by Canada's foreign ministry misrepresents facts and is very misleading, which makes trumped-up charges against China," she said.

She added that China firmly condemns her statement. "We deplore and firmly oppose that (Canadian Foreign minister's statement)," she said.

She added that the Canadian side, "for some time now, has falsely accused China of spreading disinformation against their politicians on multiple occasions, but never showed any evidence to prove it".

"For some time, the Canadian side has falsely accused China of spreading disinformation against Canadian politicians on multiple occasions, but it has never come up with any solid evidence," she said.

She said Canada has been making up lies, including on Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong, to attack and smear China.

"It is the Canadian side that has been producing and spreading disinformation. We urge the Canadian side to respect facts and truth, stop spreading China-related lies, and stop words and deeds that would poison the atmosphere of China-Canada relations and damage bilateral relations," she added.