Photo: CTV News

The federal government is taking the relatively rare step of revoking Canadian citizenship from a Chinese man because he allegedly got it through a bogus marriage.

The government is asking the Federal Court of Canada for a declaration that Yan Yang He fraudulently secured citizenship nine years ago.

A statement of claim filed by the citizenship minister accuses He of concealing that he entered into a marriage of convenience with his former spouse, Lisa Marie Mills, in 2004.

As a result, the statement says, the man was granted permanent-resident status in 2006 and he obtained Canadian citizenship four years later.

The move to revoke He's citizenship comes amid severely strained relations between Ottawa and Beijing.

Attempts to contact He, last known to be living in Toronto, were unsuccessful.