Canada and China have agreed on a one-year pilot program on practicing rule of law. (Photo : Getty Images)
Many Canadians criticized the government of the City of Vancouver for raising the Chinese flag and officials wearing a red scarf, similar to the practice of the officials of the Communist Party.
Mayor Kerry Jang and MP Joe Peschisolido raised the flag while wearing red scarves in front of the city hall. About 300 spectators were in attendance.
Many Canadian-Chinese reacted to the ceremony and voiced out their concerns on Twitter.
"Our first reaction was, we could not believe this was happening at city hall," said Louis Huang, the spokesman for The Alliance of the Guard of Canadian Values.
He added, "I think as a Chinese-Canadian, it is my responsibility to warn them to be cautious."
Huang clarified that he had no issues with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to China, but said that local officials should not patronize the communist government.
He said, "Right now they raise the national flag of China in front of city hall. What will be next? We worry when they are dealing with the Chinese government. Do they put Canadian values in first or second place?"
Wearing of the red scarf was also concerning to the Canadian-Chinese community. Huang said that the scarf was a communist symbol.
"It has very, very unique political implications in China. That means to struggle for communism, to spread the ideology to everywhere in this world. This is what we are taught from our childhood [in China]. During the ceremony, there is no reason to wear this red scarf. It doesn't make any sense. It means they accept communist ideology," Huang said.
Former mayoral candidate from COPE Meena Wong agreed with Huang. In a tweet, she said, "My family and I suffered greatly under that national flag. During the infamous Cultural Revolution, the red guards wearing red scarves came to our home and took everything valuable. They abused my aging grandmother and threatened my parents."
