Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will appoint an independent special investigator to probe alleged election interference by China in 2019 and 2021.
Trudeau announced the plan at a news conference on Monday.
Some Canadian media have recently been reporting on the allegations. They say China preferred to see Trudeau's Liberals reelected and worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered to be unfriendly to Beijing.
The media cited Canadian intelligence reports as saying that Chinese diplomats and their proxies led the efforts. Tactics included undeclared cash donations to political campaigns and having business owners employ Chinese students as volunteers in electoral campaigns.
Canada's opposition parties have been demanding a full public investigation into the allegations.
Trudeau said the election outcomes in 2019 and 2021 were not impacted by foreign interference. But he said that even if it didn't change the results of the elections, any interference attempt by any foreign actor is troubling and serious. He said the probe would be carried out in order to maintain trust for democracy.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday last week denied the allegations, saying they are completely false and nonsensical.