Canada extends review of Chinese state firm’s gold mine bid amid rising tension

Canada has extended a national security review of the Chinese takeover of a Canadian gold mining company operating in the country’s strategic far north worth USD 165 million. TMAC Resources said on Friday, November 27 that a federal review of China's state-owned Shandong Gold Mining’s takeover bid for the struggling miner had been extended for another 45 days. TMAC Resources, which is currently trying to stay afloat, operates in Canada’s far north Nunavut.

'Hope Bay gold project'

The area's strategic value and untapped potential led members of Canada's opposition and government officials to push Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to block the sale as per media reports. If approved the agreement would give Chinese state-owned company control over TMAC's important asset 'Hope Bay gold project', which lies on the Northwest Passage, a sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Arctic,  according to the South China Morning Post.

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This route however remains closed for the most part of the year and some scientists believe that climate change could open up the route for long periods leading to the opening of a shorter shipping path between Asia and Europe.

This extension of review by Canada comes amid growing tension with China following the extradition case against Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. Lately, Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE) intelligence agency report had cited China and North Korea among several countries that pose the greatest cybersecurity threat to Ottawa through their state-sponsored programs.

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The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) said in a report they have assessed that almost certainly the state-sponsored programs of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea pose the greatest state-sponsored cyber threats to Canadian individuals and organisations. However, many other states are rapidly developing their own cyber programs, benefiting from various legal and illegal markets to purchase cyber products and services, the report added.

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(With ANI inputs)