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Richard Desjardins

A group of Canadian parliamentarians have recently joined the Formosa Club, a grouping of European members of parliament founded in October 2019 to “coordinate and strengthen” the parliamentary organisations that promote relations with Taiwan.
Such an initiative risks pulling Canada into a conflict with Beijing over Taiwan, a confrontation in which Ottawa has nothing to gain and everything to lose.
This development is only the latest of several recent moves in Canada that are sure to irk China. None has the official support of the Canadian government.
In fact, the administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a point of not appearing to be connected with these initiatives, even though, in this latest action, a member of his team is presented as leading the effort.
When the Canadian parliament adopted a motion in February declaring that China’s action in Xinjiang amounted to genocide against the Uygur community, members of the Trudeau cabinet were conspicuously absent for the vote.

Great to see Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group joins the Formosa Club to advance #Taiwan's international profile and inclusion in international organizations. This new transatlantic partnership will benefit #Taiwan🇹🇼 -#Canada🇨🇦 ties and transpacific partnership. https://t.co/1BwFB7WLt9
— Taiwan in Canada (@TaiwanInCanada) August 5, 2021

In May, the Halifax International Security Forum, an organisation that receives funding from the Canadian government, awarded its John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Media reports said the Canadian government had threatened to withdraw its funding if the forum went ahead with its proposal. Nothing came of it. Now the forum has announced that it plans to hold its next conference in Taipei in January 2022.
These initiatives do little more than antagonise a Chinese government intent on achieving reunification with the island – by consent or by force if necessary. Instead of promoting peace and dialogue between the parties, the Canadian moves in effect encourage independent forces in Taiwan to pursue their agenda.
These developments would be of little concern to Canadians, were it not for the fact that as tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait, Canada could find itself too deeply involved for its own good.
While Canada does not have the military muscle to commit to any action on its own, it would certainly be expected to participate in any effort involving the United States, Britain and Australia, among others. Given that a Taiwan Strait crisis could involve two nuclear powers, the stakes are high.
In another confrontation, the one involving the arrest and detention of Meng Wanzhou, we have witnessed how a simple case of extradition can turn into a high political game involving two major powers and a middle power caught in between.

The Meng affair underlines how Canada is ill-equipped to get involved in a high-stakes game involving world powers. While Ottawa is unwilling to antagonise its closest ally to rescue its own citizens, Beijing has showed no qualms in trying to obtain Meng’s release.
After the Huawei chief financial officer was arrested, China detained two Canadian nationals allegedly involved in activities in breach of national security legislation, and proceeded to find fault with Canadian exports of pork and canola oil. Beijing denied its actions were retaliation for Meng’s arrest, but few people see them as mere coincidence.
Britain, Canada, US and Taiwan popular options for Hongkongers leaving city
Canadian authorities’ reaction to the arrest of their nationals has been tepid in comparison. Other than registering protests and attempting to secure international support from its allies, they have essentially adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In fact, their public statements reveal a lack of understanding of the realpolitik of international conflicts.
The Canadian government chose to invoke its commitment to the rule of law and let the extradition process follow its course through the courts, a process that could take years. In the meantime, the two Canadian nationals, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, languish in Chinese jail.


The Canadian government did not help its case by failing to articulate publicly and confidently where it stands on China early on in its mandate. As a result, the field has been left wide open to Canadian hardliners on China.
Some opinion makers in Canada have demonised China and anyone who advocates a more rational and calm approach to dealing with current tensions. Recent polls indicate that Canadian public opinion has mostly turned against China, forcing the government to harden its own approach.
Canada’s duty lies in freeing Kovrig and Spavor from China
By failing to appreciate the implications of the Meng affair, Canada became a pawn between the US and China, making it vulnerable to attacks from domestic hardliners. That this hard line has had the result of postponing a resolution to the detention of the two Michaels does not seem to worry its proponents.
In fact, if it makes the Chinese Communist Party appear ruthless and cruel, the proponents of this approach will have achieved their purpose.
Canada had the choice to refuse to be dragged into this confrontation in the early days of the Meng affair. That it chose to follow the rule of law makes it appear naive and overly legalistic.
Under these circumstances, Canada would be well advised to stay away from future conflicts that have very little bearing on its national interest and which it has little ability to influence one way or another. Staying on the margins has its advantages.
Richard Desjardins retired in 2020 after a 29-year career as a Canadian public servant


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Canada

Canada must learn from Meng Wanzhou saga to stay out of US-China confrontation

A Canadian flag flies at the Canadian embassy in Beijing in January 2019. A group of Canadian lawmakers recently joined a grouping aimed at strengthening ties with Taiwan, in a move that’s sure to irk Beijing. Photo: EPA-EFE

Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves for a lunch break during her extradition hearing at the British Columbia Supreme Court on August 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Photo: The Canadian Press via AP

‘Arrogant’: China rejects Canada’s claims over ‘unjust’ Spavor and Schellenberg verdicts

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the verdict for Spavor comes after more than 2½ years of arbitrary detention, “a lack of transparency in the legal process and a trial that did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by international law.” Photo: Reuters

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 8, 2019, Turnisa Matsedik-Qira, of the Vancouver Uyghur Association, demonstrates against China's treatment of Uighurs while holding a photo of detained Canadians Michael Spavor (L) and Michael Kovrig outside a court appearance for Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 22, 2020 demanded that China free two Canadians who were charged with spying following a row involving all three nations. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

US-Canada ties will survive ending extradition of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou

Illustration: Craig Stephens

How Canada became collateral damage in US-China battle for the upper hand

Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou returns to a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, following a lunch break on June 29. The long-running hearings on whether Meng is to be extradited to the US are entering their final stretch, and a verdict could be handed down by the end of this year. Photo: Reuters

US President Joe Biden (left) and Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, at the start of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on June 11. It’s clear to Canada that relations with the US will not be as they were. Photo: Pool / AFP

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China

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Ottawa’s failure to act firmly and fast in the early days of the extradition saga left it snared in a geopolitical tussle with little bearing on its own national interest
Its tepid response to the fallout also left the field open to Canadian hardliners to lead the conversation on China



Ottawa’s failure to act firmly and fast in the early days of the extradition saga left it snared in a geopolitical tussle with little bearing on its own national interest. Its tepid response to the fallout also left the field open to Canadian hardliners to lead the conversation on China.


Diplomacy

Huawei Technologies

Meng Wanzhou

Taiwan

US-China relations

China-Canada relations

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)
