Back in March of this year, Canada joined other Western allies in sanctioning Chinese officials who are suspected of involvement in the persecution of China’s Uighur Muslim minority in the western province of Xinjiang. There has been an on-going war of words between Chinese officials and state media with the Canadian government over alleged human rights violations in the mistreatment of its Uyghur minority. More recently, this public war of words escalated with a Chinese anti-Canada offensive soon after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves containing the remains of children at former indigenous residential schools in Canada. Much of the criticism towards Canada, and in particular towards Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was openly levelled by a Chinese Communist Party newspaper with an active online presence. The Prime Minister has accused Beijing of having failed even to admit its present-day human rights problems, let alone take measures to alleviate them. Trudeau views this failure as a “fundamental difference” compared to Canada. However, with various active Chinese support groups located in Canada, particularly in Chinese communities and on college campuses, one can expect that the state supported campaign will continue for some time to come.
In addition, there is always the matter of economic and trade initiatives between Canada and China to consider. The Canada China Business Council (CCBC) is a powerful high level lobby group that promotes a greater degree of commercial and diplomatic interaction between Canada and China. The influential CCBC’s board of directors is a who’s who of Canada’s power elite. The Council has head a number of trade missions to China, promoting lucrative Canadian business ties in China. As one observer noted, even the Crown corporation which invests taxpayers’ money, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has invested to the tune of $56 billion, or 12 percent of their total investments, in China. Investments can include companies with provable links to human rights abuses. Moreover, it has become clear that Canadian accusations of human rights violations by Chinese authorities is little more than an annoyance, intended primarily for our domestic consumption and not to be taken seriously. Business goes on as usual.
The reality is that Canadian authorities understand this delicate relationship when it comes to Chinese foreign and domestic policies. As in the case of Australia and the U.S., the Chinese state propaganda machine will counter with its own accusations of human rights violations in other countries, whether past or present. They certainly have a vast array of means to counter what they view as foreign interference in their domestic affairs, whether through their on-line presence or through sources readily available within other countries. Let’s face it, Canada by itself is not in a position to discredit those sources, and indeed may not really want to rock the boat for fear of creating future trade barriers. When openly discussing human rights in China, Canada is forced to cautiously walk a tightrope.
FROLITICKS 