RCMP says it has opened an investigation into claims China intimidated MP Chong and his family

The head of the RCMP says his organization has opened an investigation into allegations China attempted to target and intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family.

Commissioner Mike Duheme made the comments before the procedure and House affairs committee Tuesday morning. It has been studying an alleged 2021 Beijing plot to amass information on Chong's family in retaliation for his efforts to recognize the persecution of Uyghurs as genocide.

Duheme and Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn say the force also contacted the commission of Canada Elections regarding other allegations that have bubbled to the surface from Conservative MP Erin O'Toole and NDP MP Jenny Kwan.

O'Toole told the House of Commons earlier this month that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told him he has been an ongoing target of a Chinese government campaign of misinformation and "voter suppression" that covered the last federal election campaign.

Kwan said CSIS told her she is an "evergreen" target for Beijing. Both O'Toole and Kwan said China's government is singling them out over their vocal support for democracy in Hong Kong and for religious and cultural minorities in China.

Duheme and Flynn said the force only learned about the Chong matter recently, when the Globe and Mail broke the story.