February 5, 2004

The consular corps in this country cannot act maliciously against Canadians and not expect to suffer consequences, the lawyer of a Toronto man who won a libel lawsuit earlier this week in Ontario Superior Court said yesterday.

In what was seen as an unprecedented step against a Canadian-based representative of a foreign government, the court said Pan Xinchun, the Chinese deputy consul general in Toronto, libelled Joel Chipkar, a Toronto businessman, and would have to pay $1,000 and legal fees.

Mr. Chipkar, a practitioner of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline whose followers have been persecuted by the Chinese government, wrote a letter to the Toronto Star last spring in which he criticized China's management of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

The day after Mr. Chipkar's letter was published, the newspaper ran a reply from Mr. Pan, who said Mr. Chipkar "had hidden motives and was part of [Jiang regime's slanderous words deleted]," said Peter Downard, Mr. Chipkar's lawyer.

"That personal attack exceeded the bounds of fair reply," Mr. Downard added.

Mr. Chipkar asked for an apology.

When there was no response, he sued Mr. Pan, who refused repeated attempts to be served with the legal papers and then did not file a defence.

Consequently, the court noted Mr. Pan was in default, essentially admitting the allegations against him were true, Mr. Downard said.

Officials with the Chinese consulate in Toronto could not be reached for comment.