Keeping an eye on Communist, Totalitarian China, and its influence both globally, and we as Canadians. I have come to the opinion that we are rarely privy to truth regarding the real goal, the agenda of China, it's ambitions for Canada [including special focus on the UK, US & Australia]. No more can we trust the legacy media as there appears to be increasing censorship applied to the topic of communist China. I ask why. Here is what I find.
US lawmakers accuse VC firmsof funding Chinese military-linked firms
February 9, 2024
Chairman U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) speaks with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former CIA director and former defense secretary Leon Panetta, during a hearing of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2024.
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sequoia Capital China, Qualcomm Ventures and three other venture capital firms plowed at least $3 billion into Chinese tech companies that support Beijing's military and its repression of minorities in Xinjiang, a U.S. congressional report alleged on Thursday.
The House of Representatives' select committee on China, led by Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, released the report, which also scrutinizes investments made by GGV Capital, GSR Ventures and Walden International in Chinese artificial intelligence and semiconductor firms with unsavory ties.
Banks In Canada Tied to Chinese Fentanyl Laundering Risk U.S. Treasury Sanctions After Cartel Terror Designation
TD and other banks face new scrutiny under U.S. anti-terror laws as Chinese-linked superlabs in Canada churn out fentanyl, meth, and ecstasy for U.S. streets, expert tied to Trump administration warns
Sam Cooper
Mar 29, 2025
WASHINGTON — In an explosive, sweeping interview, former senior State Department investigator David Asher—closely connected to the Trump administration’s financial and national security apparatus—warned that Canadian banks could soon face a “new universe” of regulatory scrutiny, including from the U.S. Treasury, due to the recent designation of Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Asher, who contends that the “command” for Western Hemisphere money laundering of synthetic narcotics—including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and ecstasy sourced from Chinese precursors—is “largely run by Chinese triads in Canada,” also argues that this interconnected transnational network presents profound risks to Canadian financial institutions.
Speaking bluntly about the nexus between Chinese Triads and Mexican cartels operating in Canada, Asher said: “Of course, they’re in bed with each other. This is why Tse Chi Lop lived in Toronto… These cartels are now designated as terrorist organizations. That changes everything—how we prosecute them, and what tools we can use.”
Asher, along with Canadian law enforcement experts such as former RCMP intelligence analyst Scott McGregor, believes a rarely discussed Canadian legal barrier—Stinchcombe—must be overcome. They argue Canada could unlock powerful new authorities if it begins treating cartel-connected Chinese money laundering networks as accessories to terrorism.
The rule, derived from the 1991 Supreme Court case R. v. Stinchcombe, requires Canadian law enforcement to disclose nearly all investigative material to the defense. While intended to ensure a fair trial, critics say it severely hampers complex RCMP investigations, especially those relying on wiretaps or sensitive intelligence, and risks blowing the cover of international partners and covert operations.
Asher didn’t mince words: “Every case I worked in Canada… the Stinchcombe thing ended up [inhibiting investigations]—we were targeting phone numbers tied to Canadian money launderers who were Chinese. And they got told after 90 days that we were going after them. Then they just changed numbers and changed their OPSEC. It’s a farce.”
He sees the recent terrorism designation of Mexican cartels as a legal pivot point: “That whole Stinchcombe thing should be thrown out the door because we can now use counter-terrorism authorities.”
Asher believes that if Canadian law enforcement engages more directly with U.S. authorities, the financiers and money launderers tied to Chinese triads in Canada can be directly linked to fentanyl-trafficking Mexican cartels. If Canadian banks are shown to be facilitating these funds, even passively, they may be subject to U.S. regulations—including terrorism finance sanctions.
The implications for Canadian institutions are profound. “If any of these financial institutions are picking up a dollar for the cartels at this stage and we can prove it, then they’re engaged in terrorism financing.”
Asher also pointed to marijuana trafficking from Canada into the United States—not as a separate criminal enterprise, but as part of the same transnational fentanyl networks. He said Chinese Triads, with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, sit atop this narcotics pyramid and are exploiting Canada’s legal marijuana system.
“The illegal pot—marijuana from Canada that comes into the New York State tri-state area and into the Pacific Northwest states of the United States is huge. And now we’re seeing the integration of fentanyl into marijuana in some cases.”
The flow of narcotics south and criminal proceeds north continues largely unabated, Asher warned, with superlabs in British Columbia and other areas of Canada producing meth, ecstasy, and fentanyl.
On Canada’s enforcement efforts and the outcomes of official inquiries into Chinese criminal and influence networks, Asher was scathing: “What have you done to follow up on [the Cullen Commission]? Nothing. And then you had this Hogue inquiry about Chinese influence in politics. What have you done about that? It looks to me like practically nothing.”
He called on Canada to show resolve on investigations that impact the United States: “Frankly, one of the first things you still need to do is: why is TD Bank Canada not being charged? And do we have charges against some of the executives, whether they’ve been publicly named or not?”
His core message is that Canada must shake off legal and political inertia: “Why wouldn’t Canada want to protect itself? You’re losing thousands of people every year, sometimes tens of thousands, due to overdoses and poisonings and basically murder in the form of these narcotics networks.”
The consequences of inaction, Asher warned, could be dire—not only for Canadian sovereignty and public health, but for its banking sector’s international standing. “Canadian money laundering command and control remains a huge issue for drug trafficking across the United States… That’s just the bottom line.”
The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity. Some passages have been removed to streamline the discussion while preserving its core insights.
Sam Cooper: What is the key change that designating the Sinaloa cartel and these other Mexican cartels as terrorist networks—because Canada followed President Trump on that. So now this anti-terrorism law should be applicable in Canada. One, does that change the calculus of the U.S. working with the Canadian government in going after cartels in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal? And two, in your view, are these cartels operative with Chinese command-and-control financiers that underwrite their operations across North America?
David Asher: First of all, of course, they’re in bed with each other. I mean, this is the reason why Tse Chi Lop lived in Canada and in Toronto. I mean, the Sinaloa cartel has significant operations with partners and proxies in Canada, both for distribution and, increasingly, we believe with production—the rise of these super labs.
And so, the way I define it: we can do law enforcement top down. We use their intelligence, use their sources. We know who the leadership are, we know where the money is. Rather than build a case from the bottom up and start with dime bags on the streets of Chicago or Vancouver, we say we know these cartels are designated, and now these cartels are terrorist organizations. That changes everything in terms of how we could prosecute them and what type of tools we can use. Because that whole Stinchcombe thing should be thrown out the door because we can now use counter-terrorism authorities. Canada does have a reasonably strong counter-terrorism law but implementing it is another thing, depending on government.
So if we treat these cartels as terrorists—which they are—and you’ve designated them, we can use our signals intelligence and all sorts of other tools to much more robustly target them without them knowing it. Because every case I worked in Canada, the Stinchcombe thing ended up—we were targeting phone numbers tied to Canadian money launderers who were Chinese, and also actually some Italian mob guys too, and Iranian mob guys. And they got told after 90 days that we were going after them. And then they just changed numbers and they changed their OPSEC. It’s a farce, you know that. But I mean, just like with the terrorism designations, I think we’re in a new universe here.
So now that the Latin cartels have been designated as terrorists, your Anti-Terrorism Act of 2017 will—it has these four key provisions: prevent terrorists from getting into Canada and protect Canadians from terrorist acts; activate tools to identify, prosecute, and convict terrorists; keep the border secure and contribute to economic security; and work with the international community to bring terrorists to justice and address root causes of violence.
All these aspects are fundamentally game changers. I mean, if you apply that, I think that you treat these cartels as terrorists, you start to prosecute them. We could do it jointly. And their partners too—I mean, they’re accessories to terrorism. So if the Chinese are laundering the money, and if TD Bank, let’s say, is accepting the money? Then TD Bank is involved in terrorism finance. Suddenly, then, the whole tapestry of authorities has changed, and we should not have to follow the Stinchcombe thing anymore. It should be that we have a direct way to secretly target the communications and follow the money through the cartels, now that they’re basically the same as Hezbollah and the Quds Force and Al-Qaeda.
And then there’s Chinese partners. Frankly, if they’re working with them in a partnership, you should be able to approach them as accessories to terrorism from a legal standpoint. That would change your prosecution. It would change your intelligence collection capability, and it would actually conform with the facts, frankly.
And I think also anybody who’s getting the Chinese guys you’ve profiled, like Paul King Jin and all these Chinese United Front actors in Vancouver—I mean, they are now effectively accessories to a terrorist organization’s finances.
So I have to assume that your politicians are not going to meet with accessories to terrorist organizations anymore. I hope what this is doing in the U.S. is that all U.S. banks now are under warning that the Anti-Terrorism Act will be applied to them if they take one dollar of Sinaloa money.
I think that people are starting to realize that. And I think there’s much—it’s hardly that TD was the only Canadian bank that was involved in laundering money.
Chinese owner of three shopping malls in B.C.says she wants to buy the heart of Canada, the Hudson's Bay
Billionaire Weihong Liu mocked using videos online announcing her plans
Apr 09, 2025
A Chinese billionaire in British Columbia has taken to social media to announce her plans to buy dozens of Hudson's Bay locations after she saw Canadians shocked over the collapse of the retail giant.
Weihong Liu is the board chairwoman of Central Walk, a retail investment company that specializes in acquisitions owns three shopping centres in B.C.
Liu has shared a series of videos on the Chinese social media platform RedNote that she wants to own it.
Seizing on the opportunity that The Bay, the national brand that carries Canada's history; Glory be to China.
Liu set out her business plans to purchase many of the stores on a whiteboard in one of her videos, saying The Bay has hundreds of Canadian history, its beginning.
The videos show her touring The Bay locations, from Toronto to Calgary, alongside B.C.-based Chinese real estate agent Linda Qin.
The Bay will be liquidating all but six of its 80 stores, as well as its three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks Off 5th locations in Canada that it owns through a licensing agreement.
Liu said in a video posted last month that she would submit her proposal for The Bay's assets within days.
Binding bids for the company's assets or investments in the business are due April 30, while those wanting the leases have to make an offer by May 1.
Liu couldn't be reached for an interview, while Qin told The Canadian Press in a text message on Tuesday that they will have more announcements coming.
HBC spokesperson Tiffany Bourré declined to comment on the bid.|
Shoppers flock to The Bay in Penticton as store closures loom
More than 9,000 workers stand to lose their jobs if the company liquidates all of its 80 stores. Some of B.C.'s smaller towns and cities are grappling with possibly saying goodbye to the Bay. Our cameras caught up with shoppers outside its Penticton store.
The process to off-load Hudson's Bay and Saks leases is being overseen by Alvarez & Marsal, a third-party appointed by the court to guide Hudson's Bay through creditor protection, and real estate broker Oberfeld Snowcap Inc.
Neither replied to a request for comment asking whether they'd received an expression of interest from Liu.
A second process to find buyers or investors for The Bay's other assets, which may include rights to its famed Stripes trademark or even its art, is being run by Alvarez & Marsal and Reflect Advisors, Hudson's Bay's financial adviser.
Adam Zalev, Reflect's managing director, said in an email, "It is not appropriate for us to comment while the sale process is ongoing."
Uphill battle
Retail analysts say this will be an uphill battle for Liu.
Founder and publisher of Retail Insider Craig Patterson has seen one of Liu's videos online, and said she "could just be somebody wanting good social media attention."
Patterson said it would be difficult to revive the stores, since investors first need to find vendors willing to sell products to them, and in this case, the merchants would prefer to have cash on delivery, rather than being paid afterwards.
The Bay’s downfall raises questions for Vancouver’s downtown retail sector
Vancouver's retail sector is facing another hit with the closure of all Hudson's Bay locations outside Ontario and Quebec. As Sohrab Sandhu reports, city officials say they would like to see the massive downtown space retain its heritage value.
Chinese triads’ money laundering schemes are fueling Canada’s fentanyl nightmare
Chinese triads have set their sights on Canada due to its geographical location and lax laws. Their large-scale money laundering schemes have helped fuel Vancouver's opioid epidemic. The government is finally reacting.
In Vancouver's Eastside neighborhood, drug-related deaths are a sad part of everyday life.
The contrast between western neighborhoods and the Eastside in Vancouver, Canada, could not be more dramatic. While skyscrapers with luxurious apartments tower over the west's streets, a walk down the Eastside's sidewalks will typically take a visitor past tents pitched by thousands of homeless people and drug addicts.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin, has become the drug of choice for addicts in the city. As a consequence, number of drug-related deaths in Vancouver has skyrocketed. Nor is the situation is unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future, because there is no shortage of fentanyl supplies. This is in turn linked to the skyscrapers on the west side, but also to the large goods port, the local Chinese diaspora and lax national money laundering laws. The government now wants to change its legislation on money laundering.
Vancouver has been experiencing a health emergency since 2016. Pictured: Rescue workers trying to revive a man with naloxone after a fentanyl overdose.
The Vancouver model
Vancouver has long since established itself as a North American hub both for the import of fentanyl precursors and for money laundering. Both businesses are controlled by the Chinese mafia, also known as the Chinese triads. The triads 14K, Sun Yee On and the Big Circle Gang have deep roots in Vancouver's Chinese diaspora population, one of North America's largest and oldest.
In China, the triads in turn control numerous pharmaceutical companies that manufacture fentanyl precursors. These are then exported from Hong Kong to Vancouver. In Canada, the triads, Mexican cartels and biker gangs operate laboratories in which they produce fentanyl pills and powder. The money from drug sales on the street is then laundered through the Chinese triads. According to an Arte documentary, the police believe that the Chinese triads are now the secret bankers of organized crime.
Canadian author Douglas Coupland published a book about Vancouver entitled «City of Glass,» alluding to the city's countless skyscrapers.
The money laundering system that the Chinese triads have developed for this purpose is called the «Vancouver model,» and works via money exchange offices, also known as underground banks. The following example illustrates how they can function:
A Chinese investor wants to buy three luxury apartments in a skyscraper in a prime location in Vancouver for 10 million Canadian dollars. However, as there is a capital export restriction of 50,000 U.S. dollars per year and per person in China, it is not possible for him to transfer 10 million Canadian dollars to Canada. He therefore transfers the money to a money exchange office run by the 14K triad in Shenzhen.
The Chinese investor then flies to Vancouver.
Upon his arrival in Vancouver, he visits a money exchange office there that also belongs to the 14K triad.
The money exchange office gives him cash worth 10 million Canadian dollars in $20 bills. This money comes from the proceeds of fentanyl sales. Drug dealers from the triads or the Mexican cartels have made this money on the street, and deposited it in the guarded back room of an exchange office.
The Chinese investor is then driven to one of the many casinos in Vancouver. There, he buys chips with the money, plays two or three games with small amounts, and redeems the money in larger bills, which are bundled according to Canadian banking standards.
The money has now been laundered, and can be used to purchase the three apartments. The exchange office only charges the investor a fee for providing the cash in Canada.
The 14K triad in Shenzhen then supplies its Vancouver branch with fentanyl precursors worth 10 million Canadian dollars. These are processed locally into tablets or powder and sold on the street.
The strict capital export restrictions in China create a harmony of objectives between organized crime and Chinese citizens who have made their wealth legally. If the Chinese government were to lift its capital export restrictions, this would at least make money laundering schemes more difficult. However, China has no interest in doing this. «Some countries, such as Russia, Venezuela and China, want to keep as much capital as possible within their own borders in order to strengthen their own economies,» says Florian Haufe, money laundering expert at Alix Partners.
But the money usually finds its way out of the country anyway, as the Vancouver model shows. This is because the triads' underground banking systems function without the money having to cross national borders. Moreover, the laundering process does not require any contact with Canadian banks, which are subject to money laundering laws and would flag such transactions.
For years, money was laundered on a grand scale at the River Rock Casino in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond.
«Many countries with a high standard of living are susceptible to such practices – including Switzerland,» says Haufe. This is because rich Chinese and Russian nationals prefer to invest in safe and stable countries, he notes. This has led to an enormous increase in real estate prices in Vancouver, so that most locals can no longer afford an apartment.
As these transactions are linked to organized crime, they are additionally fueling the fentanyl trade and associated gang crime. According to the Vancouver Sun, the police exposed several large fentanyl laboratories in the Vancouver metropolitan region over the past year. The authorities assume that numerous fentanyl laboratories are today being operated in the provinces of Alberta and Ontario as well.
In August 2023, drug investigators discovered what was the largest fentanyl laboratory in Canada found to date near Niagara Falls, just 30 kilometers from the U.S. border. Although 90% of all fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Mexican cartels, its northern neighbor could become a second serious gateway for fentanyl in the United States. However, the production costs for fentanyl pills and powder in Canada are currently still significantly higher than in Mexico. Canadian fentanyl is therefore not competitive, and is mainly sold on the domestic market.
Many profiteers
Organized crime has not been the only beneficiary of the casinos' operations. For years, they have also generated considerable tax revenues for the province of British Columbia. In addition, according to the Financial Post, the real estate and financial sectors as well as law firms long resisted reporting transactions by questionable clients.
The final report of the Cullen Commission money laundering inquiry, published in 2022, showed that several billion dollars a year had been laundered in the province of British Columbia alone. The commission was established by the government of British Columbia after Canadian investigative journalist Samuel Cooper published his book «Wilful Blindness – How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and Chinese Communist Party Agents Infiltrated the West» in 2021. Cooper exposed the Chinese triads' money laundering activities, and proved that several key organized crime figures maintained contacts with local politicians in British Columbia as well as representatives of the national government.
An addict's possessions, seen in Vancouver's Eastside neighborhood.
The Cullen Commission recommended that the government pass a law to deal with undeclared assets in British Columbia. «Although this measure has been implemented, it has not yet significantly reduced money laundering in Vancouver,» Cooper says. He notes that casinos have now at least introduced a cash limit of 10,000 Canadian dollars as a result of his revelations. This has made it more difficult to launder large sums of money in the casinos, he says.
However, modified variations of the Vancouver model have since emerged. Today, networks consisting of shell companies are increasingly being used for transactions. This is because companies are subject to different, less restrictive capital export restrictions. In addition, the triads have numerous associates in China and Canada who repeatedly transfer small amounts of money to one another, further disguising the origin of the money.
Canada as a major money laundering country
According to Global News, NGOs such as Transparency International and the U.S. State Department have criticized the Canadian government for its lax money laundering laws in recent years, putting it on a par with countries such as Afghanistan, the British Virgin Islands, China, Macao and Colombia.
Haufe, the money laundering expert at Alix Partners, agrees with this assessment. «Canada's money laundering laws have not met internationally recognized standards for a long time,» he says. Although a lot is happening, the country is still not where it should be, he adds.
However, the government is now declaring war on «snow washing,» as money laundering through Canada is called, partly due to the country's abundance of snow. Last November, Justin Trudeau's government enacted a series of reforms to the state's money laundering laws. According to Reuters, Canadian financial regulators have already imposed record fines on three of the country's five largest banks for violations of money laundering laws since the beginning of the year.
