Former MP Han Dong settles defamation lawsuit with Global News
Former MP Han Dong has settled his defamation lawsuit against Global News, according to a statement posted to the news organization's website, closing a two-year legal battle that came after the outlet published an article alleging he advised a Chinese diplomat to hold off on freeing two Canadians who were detained in China at the time.
On Sunday morning, Global published a statement on its website that said it and "former MP Han Dong have settled Mr. Dong's lawsuit concerning Global News stories that reported on allegations about Mr. Dong."
In March 2023, Global published a story alleging Dong advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were being held by China at the time.
Dong denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit against Global, its parent company Corus and several journalists just weeks after the story ran.
In the final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue wrote that classified intelligence "corroborates Mr. Dong's denial of the allegation that he suggested the [People's Republic of China] should hold off releasing Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor. He did not suggest that the PRC extend their detention."
In its statement, Global said it "recognizes the findings" of the inquiry's report, including the classified information reviewed by Hogue.
The news organization added "the stories published by Global were based on information provided by confidential intelligence sources."
"Mr. Dong has always denied the accuracy of this intelligence. In reporting on the sources' allegations concerning Mr. Dong, Global News's intent was to report on matters of significant public interest and to qualify that the allegations were unproven and subject to different interpretations," it said.
In a statement to CBC News, Dong confirmed the settlement and said "after two long years, finally my family and I can move on."
"I have had a profound appreciation of the privilege of holding a public office and being a member of the Liberal caucus," he said.
Dong left the Liberal caucus in March 2023 to sit as an Independent MP. He did not seek re-election in the 2025 federal election in his suburban Toronto riding of Don Valley North after the Liberal Party told him they were going to run a new candidate, Maggie Chi — who later won the riding.
WATCH | Dong quits Liberal caucus amid election interference allegations:
In June 2024, an Ontario Superior Court judge found no documented evidence to support allegations made against Dong in the Global News articles.
The judge's comments came as he rejected an application from Corus Entertainment to throw out Dong's lawsuit against the news service, saying it was in the public interest to hear the case.
"The matter of Mr. Dong's communications with the Chinese are worthy of the freedom of expression of an open court system," Justice Paul Perell said in his judgment.
Perell found the reporter who wrote the story did not see a transcript of the conversation between Dong and the diplomat, derived from the confidential sources, and did not keep all of the notes used as part of the reporting process.
The ruling said the notes the reporter did keep, based on conversations with sources, do not contain any reference to Dong advising a Chinese diplomat to "delay" or "hold off" on releasing the two men.
Kovrig and Spavor returned to Canada in September 2021, almost three years after they were first detained by China in what was widely seen to be a retaliatory action in response to Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of U.S. authorities.
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