Zhao Liying, the consul-general of the People’s Republic of China in Calgary, will be in Yellowknife next week for a whirlwind meeting with local officials and to attend a multicultural event.
Liying will meet with Mayor Rebecca Alty, and Aurora College president Glenda Vardy-Dell during her two-day visit June 25-26, according to Xin Fu, president of the Yellowknife Chinese Association. She is also scheduled to meet with Northern News Services publisher Mike W. Bryant during her visit.
Her first day in Yellowknife will include attendance at Multicultural Day celebrations Sunday at Somba K’e Civic Plaza.
“She will also be meeting local Chinese, the community here,” said Fu.
Fu told Yellowknifer that the consul-general intends to follow up next week’s visit with another trip in September.
Her visit comes amid heightened tensions between Canada and China with allegations coming over the past year that Chinese officials, including diplomats in Canada, interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections by attempting to discredit candidates viewed as hostile to the communist regime in China while elevating candidates seen as friendly.
Fu declined to comment on the controversy, saying Liying isn’t coming to Yellowknife to talk about politics but rather to meet people and make contacts.
Yellowknifer reached out to the Chinese consulate in Calgary but officials there declined to comment. The City of Yellowknife and Aurora College did not provide comment on Liying’s respective meetings with Alty and Vardy-Dell by press time.
-with files from Kaicheng Xin