A former professor at a Taiwanese university , which served as a military faculty for cyberwarfare , may face a third , immigration reading after a judge found issues with a previous decision that would have admitted him to Canada.
According to a Federal Court of Canada determination issued on February 19 and a 43-year-old Chinese federal who has lived in Canada since 2021, Xu, who is a member of one of China’s military units responsible for digital spy against Canada, may be unacceptable on security grounds.
Xu , and his wife Ying Ruan , live , in Winnipeg, a consultant with Xu’s Winnipeg laws company, Zaifman Immigration Lawyers, said on Monday.
The Manitoba Land Titles Registry states , Ruan owns a house in Sage Creek, a village in southern Winnipeg.
Xu , arrived in 2021 with a permanent resident card issued as part of his wife’s sponsorship program, according to the jury selection.
The court does n’t specify why Xu applied for asylum, but it does note that the application was lengthy.
In China, he served for 20 times in the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, gradually rising to the rank of lieutenant- captain, the choice state.
He likewise taught for 20 years at the PLA ‘s , Information Engineering University, or PLAIEU, which the decision described as ,” China’s just military academy for computer and electronic war and is reputed to be a center for information warfare studies for the Foreign military”.
As a student at the PLAIEU, the court documents noted that Xu took courses including:
- Informational warfare and command.
- Information security and confidentiality information.
- Network countermeasures.
- Methods of network confrontation.
Detained, questioned upon arrival
Although Xu was issued a permanent resident visa for Canada, he was detained upon arrival on July 10,  , 2021, by the Canada Border Services Agency and questioned , on the basis he could be a member of an organization that engaged in espionage, the decision states.
According to the decision, members of the People’s Liberation Army’s department, which he taught at, were “recognized to have engaged in espionage against Canada and contrary to Canada’s interests,” adding that members of that department are inadmissible to Canada.
The Canada Border Services Agency reported on July 17, 2021, alleging Xu was inadmissible to Canada and claiming he was detained” as a threat to the security of Canada,” according to the court decision.
At a subsequent Immigration Division , hearing, the , CBS A , argued Xu’s employment at the Chinese university equated to “providing material support” to the Chinese cyber espionage units and also argued his teaching made him a member of an organization which engaged in espionage against Canada, the federal court decision states.
The Immigration Division did n’t agree. According to a decision in September 2021, it found no conclusive evidence that Xu was inadmissible to Canada.
The Immigration Appeal Division was then saisied by the federal government, arguing that Xu’s work at the university had given him direct control over the university and that he was a member of the People’s Liberation Army units responsible for cyber espionage.
The appeals division disagreed. It upheld the initial decision to admit Xu into Canada in February 2023.
Third hearing slated
In his own decision earlier this , year, Federal Court Justice Peter Pamel , criticized the appeal division for , basing , much of its findings on evidence from a University of Toronto sociology and law professor who stated the Chinese military runs many universities, and who opined Xu was unlikely to have been involved in military objectives or cyber espionage.
Pamel noted that professor admitted he does not have extensive , knowledge of military universities in China.
He admitted to not having published any articles on the PLA and only having a general understanding of military universities such as the PLAIEU, but he may, as a sociologist, be very familiar with civilian universities in China.
Pamel also , drew attention to an apparent disjunction between Xu’s high rank with , the People’s Liberation Army and statements he made about his work when he first arrived in Canada.
The justice compared Xu’s position at the university to that of a janitor or cook when he claimed to be a” simple lecturer at the PLAIEU teaching basic introductory military command courses” to the Canada Border Services Agency.
The question is not whether a janitor or a cook at the PLAIEU was a member of the 3PLA, but rather whether a ranking lieutenant-colonel who was instructing military command in China’s main center for cyber espionage was one.
Ultimately, Pamel said he , found that Immigration Appeal Decision “unintelligible” and ordered up a new , hearing in front of a different panel.
A spokesperson for the , Canada Border Services Agency was unable to comment Monday.
Zaifman Immigration Lawyers stated that it could not comment until its client gave its consent.
Security threat difficult to measure: Wark
Wesley Wark, a senior , fellow at the independent think tank Centre for International Governance Innovation, said security- related immigration cases , are  , difficult for the Immigration and , Refugee Board of Canada, which must weigh loosely- defined threats in the absence of hard evidence because of the secrecy that surrounds foreign state activity.
He claimed that the Xu case illustrates a technical understanding of a potential threat to Canadian security under Canadian law.  ,
” Membership does not mean card- carrying.  , It means something much looser under]the ] Immigration and Refugee Protection Act— namely being, as the Federal Court reasons have it,’ sufficiently involved ‘ , in an organization — in this case as an instructor at a Chinese military university devoted in part to training China’s cyber warriors”, Wark said via email from Toronto.
No one can at this time claim that Mr. Xu participated actively in the planning or execution of Chinese cyberattacks or espionage in Canada.  , His motives for coming to Canada remain unclear. His case does not revolve around any of that”, he added.
Instead, the issue is more with his previous involvement as an instructor at a Chinese military academy where students were being trained for cyber espionage missions.
