A major diplomatic rift erupted between Canada and China on Tuesday as Beijing expelled a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move just hours after Ottawa said it had ordered a Chinese envoy to leave amid allegations of influence peddling.

On Monday night, Canada said it had declared a Chinese diplomat who had been accused of intimidating and gathering information on a Canadian lawmaker “persona non grata”, and ordered him to leave.

Hours later, China said it was retaliating by expelling a diplomat from the Canadian consulate in Shanghai.

Reports of a Chinese influence campaign have rocked Canada in recent months. The Globe and Mail newspaper and other prominent Canadian news organisations have published a series of leaked intelligence reports accusing the Chinese government and its diplomats in Canada of trying to manipulate the last two elections to ensure that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won.

The goal, according to the reports: prevent a victory by the Conservative Party, which the Chinese viewed as taking a hard line towards Beijing. The reports set off a political firestorm, raising questions about the integrity of Canada’s democracy. China has denied the claims.

An independent report, made public in March, concluded that while China, Russia and Iran had tried to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections, they had no effect on the results.

In a statement on Monday, Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, said that the decision to boot the diplomat, Zhao Wei, was made “after careful consideration of all factors at play.”

“Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home,” she added. “We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference.”

The Globe, citing a top-secret document from 2021, also reported that Zhao had been involved in gathering information about Michael Chong, a Conservative MP, and his family in China in a possible effort to “make an example” of him.

In 2021, Chong drew the ire of Beijing for sponsoring a motion to declare China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority a genocide. Beijing then imposed sanctions against Chong, barring him from entering the country and prohibiting Chinese citizens from conducting business with him.

That year, a report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on a possible Chinese influence campaign also included information about threats to Chong.

New York Times News Service