Opinion | Ottawa on the wrong side of history on China – TheSpec.com

Why does Ottawa still refuse to take Canadas side? Why, after all the brute diplomacy and bullying of Canadian citizens, does this government continue to appease Beijing?

The Halifax Security Forum planned to give an award to the president of Taiwan for her leadership in the face of Chinas hostile government. Canadian officials allegedly threatened to pull support and funding from the event when they learned of this.

If this was indeed the case, Canadas actions went beyond the scope of mere careful diplomacy. Threatening the Halifax Security Forum for recognizing Taiwans president, if true, was naked appeasement of a regime both hostile and antithetical to a democratic Canada.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau sidestepped giving clear answers to questions regarding the alleged threat. Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan denied there had been a threat, but subsequently demurred on the topic of renewing funding for the next Halifax Security Forum. Sajjan also refused to support or oppose the awarding of the Taiwanese president. These are the same cabinet members who refrained from voting on a parliamentary resolution condemning Beijings oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Whether a threat was made or not, there was an opportunity to assert Canadas commitment to its democratic allies. The government failed to take it.

A government that publicly commits itself to defending democracy and self-determination, like the current Canadian government, would not shy away from standing up for Taiwan.

We need to get to a place where Indigenous peoples in Canada are in control of their own destiny, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018. There is no good reason why the prime minister should not apply that same mentality to Taiwan or even Hong Kong. The president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, leads a party committed to the principle of geographic separation from China and political independence for Taiwan, not reunification with the mainland. The principle of supporting self-determination is compromised if selectively applied by the Canadian government.

Taiwan is not a rogue province. It has functioned as an independent country since the end of the Chinese Civil War. Canada and Taiwan have bilateral trade relations and all the other trappings of an international relationship between fully legitimate states. The refusal to officially treat Taiwan as a truly independent country is diplomatic posturing, not a reflection of reality.

Ottawa seems intent on avoiding any actions that would lead to retribution from Beijing. If Canada continues to back off from confrontation, it will make no difference in how the Chinese government treats Canada. Beijing has no goodwill toward Canada or its citizens. It actively tries to undermine the political system of Canada and the rights to free speech of Canadian citizens.

CSIS warned that China, along with Russia, have infiltrated the Canadian political system to lobby against opposition to those countries governments. Canadian citizens of Chinese descent are subjected to menacing late night calls if they speak up against the brutality of the Beijing government. Their families in China are threatened with disappearance, injury and death if those Canadian citizens continue to exercise their democratic rights. Citizens of a free, democratic nation are being bullied into silence by a faraway authoritarian regime. This should be a pressing concern for the current government.

The fantasy of an amicable relationship with a benign Peoples Republic of China has to end. Canada will not be treated as an equal by Beijing. China is vastly more powerful, economically and militarily, than Canada. It makes no sense for China to do so. The Chinese government is not our friend, and will not be regardless of how much appeasement takes place.

Ottawa has the ability to assert that Canada will not be bullied by undemocratic regimes. Australia, India and Taiwan have shown they will not be cowed into a reluctant submission to Beijing. The ambiguous stance of the current government is not enough and that deficiency will hurt Canada more as Beijings power grows.

Canada must join that list of countries who will stand up to Beijing, or history will show Canada wavered at a time when the strength of democracies was tested harder than at any other time this far into the 21st century.

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Geoff Russ is a history graduate, a journalist at The Source and Spheres of Influence, researcher at On This Spot and former member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

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Opinion | Ottawa on the wrong side of history on China - TheSpec.com