My TakeCanada and China can afford to be nicer to each other
- The stakes between Beijing and Ottawa are much lower than those existential ones China has with some of Canada’s closest allies, so the two sides should take it easy
Beijing has left Canada off a list of countries – including the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia – approved for visit by Chinese tour groups.
The reason given by the Chinese embassy is that “the Canadian side has repeatedly hyped up the so-called Chinese interference”.
It strikes me as an odd choice, and it’s not only because I am a Canadian-Chinese. The US has launched Cold War 2.0 against China. Germany’s foreign minister has been the most aggressive Sinophobe among top European diplomats. Australia has, through the Aukus military alliance, practically committed itself to fighting alongside the US in any future war with China. Japan is planning an Asian Nato-like military alliance with South Korea, the US, and of course, the actual Nato.
I don’t know about you but compared to its other far more aggressive allies, Canada is almost cuddly. So why pick on it?
To be sure, there have been some recent hiccups. The country’s intelligence community, especially the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), has been leaking stories left and right in the past two years to a highly uncritical media about Chinese interference with Canadian politicians and elections.
But even the most anti-China government functionaries admitted election outcomes were never affected. And despite allegations of attempted intimidation, the ones most intimidated and who lost their political careers have been Canadian politicians of Chinese heritage – once stories about their alleged friendliness with the Chinese government were leaked to the Canadian press, which duly reported it without much further investigation and verification.