Canada: Information on a Chinese organization entitled the "Democratic Front Line Association" and based in Toronto
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CAN7855 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Canada: Information on a Chinese organization entitled the "Democratic Front Line Association" and based in Toronto, 1 February 1991, CAN7855, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acff78.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A representative of the Chinese community in Ottawa, the Coordinator of the Language Resettlement Program, claims that the "Democratic Front Line Association" (DFLA) is a Chinese dissident organization abroad which supports the pro-democracy movement in China (telephone interview, 13 February 1991). According to the representative, most of the DFLA members are overseas Chinese students and scholars. The source claims that the DFLA, whose headquarters is in the USA, has a branch in Ottawa.
The National Vice-President of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (Ottawa) had no information on the DFLA (telephone interview, 13 February 19991). However, the source suggests that the DFLA could be a less precise English translation of the name of a Chinese dissident group which is known among English-speakers as the "Federation for a Democratic China" (FDC).
According to the Vice-President, the FDC is a Chinese political organization which supports the pro-democracy movement in China (telephone interview, 13 February 1991). Being based in Paris, the group has also a branch in China (Ibid.). The source claims that the founders of the FDC are those leaders of the pro-democracy movement who left China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. The Vice-President states that the group has representative offices in many countries, including Canada.
A FDC representative in Ottawa describes the FDC as a "non-violent" pro-democracy group of Chinese whose headquarters is in Paris (telephone interview, 14 February 1991). The representative holds that the Canadian headquarters of the FDC, which is located in Montreal, coordinates the activities of the group in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. The source maintains that the FDC is a small organization whose members in France are mostly exiled Chinese nationals while its members in Canada are Canadian-Chinese as well as Chinese citizens. The same representative had no information on the DFLA (telephone interview, 14 February 1991).
Additional and/or corroborating information on the subject is currently unavailable to the IRBDC.