China demands Canadian news outlets 'uphold the correct position' on Hong Kong, Taiwan

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa released a statement on Tuesday demanding that Canadian news outlets conform their reporting to reflect China's position on Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"We urge Canadian media to uphold the correct position on issues concerning China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and other major core interests, abide by the one-China principle, and not to provide a platform for the activities of 'Taiwan independence' forces so as not to send wrong signal," the statement reads.

The statement comes as a response to an article published in the Hill Times, which, according to the embassy, made "unwarranted accusations on Hong Kong related issues, claiming that 'one country, two systems failed to hold up,' and instigating the international community to 'prevent democracy erosion' and 'protecting Taiwan.'"

Despite being an independent country, the Chinese Communist Party considers democratic Taiwan to be an integral part of China. Taiwan has not been part of China since 1949, when the nationalist Kuomintang government of China fled to the island amid a communist takeover of the mainland.

Similarly, the government of Taiwan believes itself to be the legitimate government over all of mainland China, and rejects the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party as rulers.

China uses diplomatic and economic leverage against foreign countries which recognize the independence of Taiwan, and the island nation is not officially recognized by the Canadian government.

China has also pursued a more aggressive policy of integrating Hong Kong with the rest of China in recent years as well. Citizens of Hong Kong have resisted such integration, however, with protesters rising up against the government in 2019 to demand the continuation of democratic rule on the island.

It is not the first time that the Chinese embassy has demanded that Canadian media outlets tout the CCP's positions. In early January, the embassy released a statement demanding that Canadian media outlets to cease publishing "irresponsible reports and attacking and smearing China" over their handling of coronavirus.

In the statement, the Chinese embassy claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is "likely to have been caused by separate outbreaks in multiple places in the world in the latter half of 2019," despite strong evidence that the virus originated from bats in or near Wuhan.