Secret police: Inside China’s spying operations in Canada | the fifth estate presents

In November 2022, the body of a Chinese dissident was found near Gibsons, B.C. Was it a simple drowning, or the result of a Chinese secret police operation? A former spy details how China uses covert means to threaten and intimidate.

The fifth estate presents, is a new series where we showcase documentaries produced by our colleagues at Radio-Canada.

We will feature more of these stories in the fall, but this week we have a special preview.

Our colleagues Gaétan Pouliot and Benoît Giasson go to Australia and track down a former Chinese spy with links to Canada.

#Investigation #Documentary #China

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For more than five decades, the fifth estate has been Canada's premier investigative documentary program. Hosts Mark Kelley, Steven D'Souza and Ioanna Roumeliotis continue a tradition of provocative and fearless journalism. the fifth estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians — delivering a parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.

the fifth estate airs Fridays at 9pm on CBC-TV and steams on CBC GEM.

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CREDITS: THE FIFTH ESTATE PRESENTS

51-14 Friday, April 3, 2026

The Dissident & The Spy

for enquête

producer/director

Benoît Giasson

writer

Gaétan Pouliot

investigative journalist

Daniel Tremblay

video editor

Milène Ortenberg

principal photography

Daniel Hartley-Allen

Sébastien Gauvin Blanchet

Michel Picard

Michel Riverin

archival material

Four Corners | ABC

AFPTV

CCTV

Facebook | Huayong798

Reuters

Shutterstock

Telegram | t.me/s/huayong

X | @HuaYong798

X | @ljf3883

X | @csm8964

X | @Li Huaping

YouTube | Exile in Canada

YouTube | Hua Yong

YouTube | Red Notice

YouTube | Sweetie678

YouTube | V-Brigade-Eric

YouTube | Yaozhang3512

visual research

France Bonneau

Jean-Michel Daoust

Marianne Phénix

Karine Savard

rights coordinators

Cleo Beland

Marie-Ève Thibodeau

graphic designers

Basst Hadjem

Audrey Salaun

sound

Karym Ronda

Frédéric Tremblay-Caron

post audio

Martin Ferguson

Patrick Knup

Clovis Lamarre

media management

Jean-François Dion

special thanks

Donna Chan

International Consortium of Investigative Journalistes (ICIJ)

Krista Hessey

Echo Hui

Isaac Hung

Elise Potaka

Eric Szeto

Wei Wu

production assistant

Guylaine Philie

production coordinator

Danielle Bouchard

senior producer

Sophie Lambert

executive producer

Alain Abel

for the fifth estate

producer

Michelle Gagnon

editor

Robert Bilodeau

graphic designer

Tim Kindrachuk

host

Ioanna Roumeliotis

principal photography

Ousama Farag

lighting director

Roberto B Brilli

lighting technician

Ashleigh Brady

supervising technician

Nature Li

television assistant

Benjamin Müller

media management

Laurel Robinson

visual research

Leslie Morrison

resource coordinators

Marc Cormier

Dragan Maricic

post audio

Michael Banani

Ron Searles

colourist

Scott McIntyre

rollout producer

Leanne Stepnow

social media producers

Danny Burke

Alex Soloducha

Brian Vinh Trinh

associate director

Carmen Smith

packaging editor

Alessia Protomanni

coordinating associate director

Jane Wilson

senior producer

Emmanuel Marchand

executive producer

Allya Davidson

original broadcast, Radio-Canada

December 4, 2025