Winnipeg resident tied to Chinese military to face third immigration hearing

A retired army officer linked to a Chinese university that was a training ground for cyber warfare will face a third immigration hearing to decide whether he should be deported.

The Canada Services Border Agency says Huajie Xu, 43, who reportedly lives with his wife, Ying Ruan, in Sage Creek in Winnipeg, is a security risk.

He arrived in 2021 after being issued a permanent resident visa as part of his wife’s sponsorship application.

His case will be heard by the Immigration Appeal Division following a successful application for a judicial review filed by the immigration minister in Federal Court.

The division ruled Feb. 8 that there were no reasonable grounds to believe Xu was inadmissible to Canada for security concerns.

However, Federal Court Justice Peter Pamel ruled Feb. 19 the appeal division’s decision was “unintelligible” and “unreasonable.”

His ruling noted Xu had been a 20-year member of the People’s Liberation Army who had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and he had lectured at the PLA Information Engineering University for 16 years.

The university is China’s “only military academy for cyber and electronic warfare and is reputed to be a centre for information warfare research for the Chinese military,” Pamel wrote.

At issue is whether Xu is inadmissiable to Canada because of his past as a lecturer at the university and as a member of the Chinese army unit that controlled the university and was responsible for cyber espionage against Canada.

The federal government has argued Xu has downplayed his senior role in the Chinese army by telling border agents he was a simple lecturer at the university who taught introductory military command courses.

The federal government pointed to courses he took at the university while attaining a master’s degree. Those included information warfare and command, information security and confidentiality information, network counter-measures and methods of network confrontation.

When he arrived in Canada on July 10, 2021, the border agency detained Xu as it questioned whether he could be a member of an organization that conducted espionage, specifically the 3/PLA, the army unit that controlled the university before succeeding espionage units took over, said Pamel’s decision.

The 3/PLA is recognized to have engaged in espionage against Canada, with its members inadmissible to Canada, Pamel said.

The border agency issued a report on July 17, 2021, that alleges Xu was inadmissible to the country because of the connection.

That led to an immigration hearing, where the border services agency argued his employment at the university amounted to him providing “material support” to military cyber espionage units and that his lecturing made him a member of an espionage organization.

The immigration court ruled in September 2021 that it did not find reasonable grounds to conclude Xu should be denied entry to the country.

The government appealed, arguing his role at the university made him a member of the cyber espionage army units,

In its Feb. 8 decision, the immigration appeal court upheld the 2021 ruling to allow Xu entry to Canada.

Pamel criticized the appeal division for relying on evidence from a University of Toronto law professor who said the Chinese military runs many institutions, including universities, and suggested that based on Xu’s rank and the courses he taught, it was unlikely he was involved in cyber spying.

Pamel wrote that the professor was not qualified to give testimony on the matter; he noted the prof had admitted he only has a general understanding of secretive Chinese military universities.

“All in all, I find the reasoning of the (Immigration Appeal Division) unintelligible as regards the assessment of Mr. Xu’s personal circumstances, which was clearly influenced by a report and testimony of a proffered expert who had limited expertise in the context in which such an assessment should have taken place,” wrote Pamel.

The third hearing will take place at a later date. The border agency did not immediately comment Tuesday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca