In a tit-for-tat move, China's foreign ministry on Tuesday, said in a statement on its official website, that it was expelling Canada's consul in Shanghai. The Canadian diplomat, Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, has been asked to leave China by May 13, the statement said.
The move comes as Canada on Monday expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.
China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged serious demarches and strong protest to Canada, the statement by the foreign ministry read.
"As a reciprocal countermeasure in reaction to Canada’s unscrupulous move, China decides to declare Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai persona non grata, who has been asked to leave China no later than May 13. China reserves the right to further react," it added.
On Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the Canadian government has designated Zhao Wei “persona non grata”.
“I have been clear: we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs. Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home,” Joly said on the expulsion of Wei.
Meanwhile, China's embassy in Ottawa, said that the move has seriously violated international law, basic norms governing international relations and the related bilateral agreements, and sabotaged the China-Canada relations.
"China never interferes in other countries' internal affairs. The so-called "China Interference" is totally groundless, which is the out-and-out smear of China and the political manipulation driven by ideological bias. Such provocations by the Canadian side have severely undermined the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel," said a spokesperson for the embassy in a statement posted on its website.
Diplomatic tensions have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges. All three were freed in 2021.
With the recent expulsions, the two nations have now plunged into a fresh diplomatic row.