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A Chinese-born community leader who donated to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada now faces deportation proceedings over allegations of war crimes and immigration fraud. Canada Border Services Agency has launched admissibility hearings against Rong Xiang Yuan, also known as “Tiger” Yuan, a permanent resident who has lived in Canada since 2008.
Yuan founded the Canada-China Association for Promoting Friendly Relations and spent years attending political events, giving speeches and meeting elected officials at all levels of government. He is not a Canadian citizen. He has denied all allegations against him.
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War Crimes Allegations From the Sino-Vietnamese Conflict
The CBSA alleges that Yuan committed crimes against humanity during the 1980s while serving in China’s People’s Liberation Army. The agency also accuses him of misrepresenting his military record when he applied for permanent residence in Canada.
Yuan served in the PLA during China’s war against Vietnam, which ran from 1979 to 1991. A report published on March 23, 1988, in the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper described Yuan as a platoon leader who took part in a deadly encounter with Vietnamese forces. Online accounts from veterans indicate he led the PLA’s 13th Reconnaissance Platoon on the frontline in Yunnan province. Those accounts also describe his involvement in combat missions and the capture of Vietnamese prisoners.
His lawyer, Daniel Reid, confirmed that Yuan served in the Sino-Vietnamese conflict and received a citation of merit after being wounded. However, Reid firmly rejected the war crimes allegations. “He denies in the strongest terms having committed any war crimes, and he has never been charged with or convicted of any such offence in China, Canada, or elsewhere,” Reid said.
Christopher Goscha, a history professor at Université du Québec à Montréal who is writing a book on the Indo-China wars, noted that the conflict involved active artillery exchanges and border incursions during its final years. He added that after China and Vietnam made peace in 1991, both countries removed the war from official history. Veterans have since begun sharing their own accounts to fill that gap.
The Immigration and Refugee Board confirmed it received a referral from the CBSA. “We can confirm that the IRB has received a referral from CBSA in the matter of Rong Xiang Yuan for an admissibility hearing under paragraphs 35(1)(a) and 40(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” a board spokesperson said. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
Paragraph 35(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act covers deportation for acts committed outside Canada that constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. Paragraph 40(1)(a) addresses misrepresentation or withholding of material facts that affected an immigration decision.
Kelly Sundberg, a criminology professor at Mount Royal University and former CBSA officer, called the case deeply serious. “Any investigation concerning a non-citizen living in Canada being alleged of committing war crimes is exceptionally serious,” he said. Sundberg also raised broader concerns. “Equally concerning is how a non-citizen facing such serious allegations could apparently gain access to senior politicians and political networks,” he added.
Dong Van Tran, president of the Vietnamese Canadian Federation and a Saskatchewan-based community leader, said he supported the CBSA’s actions if the allegations proved accurate. Tran recalled living through the conflict, which caused tens of thousands of casualties. “If that is true, I agree with that,” he said.
Political Connections and Community Activities
Yuan built a visible profile in Canadian political circles after arriving in the country. He met Trudeau at a Richmond hotel during Trudeau’s first term as prime minister. A photograph also shows Yuan seated next to Trudeau at a 2016 Liberal Party event.
Yuan later donated $1,500 to Trudeau’s Montreal riding association. Three directors of Tiger Arms Ltd., a gun retailer in Port Coquitlam where Yuan served as a director, each contributed an additional $1,500 to Trudeau. All three lived in British Columbia. Yuan also donated $2,800 directly to the Liberal Party of Canada in 2016, according to Elections Canada records. The other Tiger Arms directors and a Canada-China association board member donated a combined $11,500. Meanwhile, the Canada-China Association for Promoting Friendly Relations donated $1,050 to the B.C. Liberal Party in 2017, according to Elections B.C. records.
Media coverage and social media posts show Yuan alongside then-Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido at a 2018 Canada-China boxing event hosted by the association. The two also appeared together at the opening of what press reports described as a high-end private club for Chinese community members.
Reid said Yuan attended public and community events where politicians were also present, but stressed that Yuan never held private meetings with Canadian politicians. “He has never lobbied or otherwise sought to influence the Canadian democratic process beyond making lawful political donations, all of which complied with applicable electoral law,” Reid said.
The B.C. government dissolved the Canada-China Association for Promoting Friendly Relations in 2019 after it failed to file required paperwork. However, Yuan continued speaking at community events after the dissolution. At a 2023 gala held by the Canadian Community Service Association, an event the hosts said included two Liberal MPs, a B.C. cabinet minister, two provincial MLAs and a local mayor, Yuan took to the stage dressed in red and spoke in Mandarin. He encouraged community members to “actively participate in politics” and to “make our due contributions to the Canadian community by obeying the law.” In an earlier address, he referred to China as “our great motherland.”
Financial Controversies and Criminal Charges
Yuan’s legal troubles extend beyond the deportation proceedings. The Abbotsford Police Department charged him with two criminal offences in July. He appeared in provincial court on September 14 to face charges of dangerous operation of a conveyance and refusing to comply with a roadside demand.
Abbotsford police confirmed the arrest. “Mr. Yuan was arrested on July 19, 2026, shortly before midnight on Highway One,” police told Global News. “Mr. Yuan failed to comply with a lawful roadside demand and was subsequently arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was operating a pickup truck.” Yuan is due back in court this week.
In addition, court records show that Yuan was fined and banned from driving for three months approximately five years ago after a charge of driving while prohibited in Maple Ridge, B.C. Also in July, the B.C. government placed a lien on a Fraser Valley property listed as his home address, alleging $507,000 in unpaid provincial taxes.
Yuan’s financial history also drew scrutiny from anti-money laundering authorities. In 2015, his cash buy-ins at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C. exceeded $4 million. The province’s anti-money laundering unit flagged his gambling activity as high risk. Authorities subsequently notified Yuan and other casino patrons that they could no longer gamble unless they provided bank or ATM withdrawal slips to prove the source of their cash. B.C. Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch records stated that “the nature of the cash that they presented at the casino suggested that the money did not come from a recognized financial institution and may be of questionable source.”
Yuan was never charged with any casino or money laundering-related offence. His lawyer said Yuan “denies any involvement in money laundering.” Yuan has claimed his gambling problem cost him US$10 million. According to a court ruling, he borrowed large sums of cash from a man named Jiuxiao Wang to fund his gambling at the River Rock Casino and later repaid Wang in China. Reid said Yuan was targeted by loan sharks due to permissive casino oversight and that no regulator or law enforcement agency had sought to interview Yuan about his gambling. “Mr. Yuan’s gambling resulted in substantial net losses and personal embarrassment,” Reid said.
Yuan lives in a $4.3-million, 10,000-square-foot house in Chilliwack, B.C., described in court and corporate records as having seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The property sits on seven acres and reportedly includes an adjacent four-acre wedding venue. A local reporter who visited the estate counted 32 security cameras. An outbuilding reportedly houses a collection of vintage vehicles. The property has been reported as the most expensive in Chilliwack.
Yuan was discharged from the Chinese military in 1991. His lawyer said he has had no involvement with the Chinese military since then and went on to build a successful business career in China and Hong Kong before immigrating to Canada due to what Reid described as “uncertainty in China.”
