BC Conservative MLA Teresa Wat defends attendance at event with senior Chinese gov official

By Noah Jarvis, True North Wire

The newly minted BC Conservative MLA Teresa Wat says that she is just as skeptical of the Chinese government as she is of all foreign governments after appearing at an event in which she sang the Chinese national anthem.

Wat was seen at the Lantern Festival banquet at Richmond, BC’s River Rock casino in February 2023, celebrating the lunar new year.

Wat could be seen singing March of the Volunteers, the Chinese Communist’s national anthem and was given the opportunity to speak before the event’s audience in Mandarin.

At the Feb. 5 Lantern Festival banquet in River Rock casino’s show theatre, @Teresa_Wat belted-out the #CCP national anthem with Xi Jinping’s B.C. diplomats and leaders of the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #vanRE #richmondbc pic.twitter.com/LtrG4EaLpG

— Bob Mackin (@bobmackin) February 7, 2023

The clip of Wat resurfaced after the now-deleted website “firejohnrustad.ca,” which was promoted to BC Conservative members, accused the MLA of having “strong ties to Beijing” while condemning BC Conservative leader John Rustad for allowing her to join the party.

At the February event, Wat sat at the same table as the Chinese consul general to Vancouver Yang Shu and members of the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations – a pro-China business group that, among other things, supports China’s annexation of Taiwan.

In a response to a question from True North asking why Wat decided to attend the event, she says that she made the appearance to show her support and respect for BC’s Chinese community.

“As a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I attend events with different community groups all the time. For me, attending this event related to the lunar new year and spring festival was no different,” said Wat.

“I was simply there to engage with the Chinese community and show my respect alongside other publicly elected officials.”