Thank You, Mr. Prime Minister
Oh dear, business groups and corporate heads in Canada are all in a dither over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's lack of respect for their rights. The Prime Minister has asserted, publicly (!) that he has no intention of denying Canada's respect for universal human rights, and he planned to discuss just that during his talks with the Chinese President. Horrors! Offend the Chinese, bring them to the point of losing face; simply not done. Well, why not?MP Jason Kenney was instrumental in having Canada honour the Dalai Lama on his latest visit to Canada. His Excellency the Dalai Lama is now an honourary Canadian citizen. No big deal for this illustrious personage, but rather a big deal for Canada. It has offended China. Well, suppose we think of it this way: China has offended the rest of the world with its actions in Tibet, its brutal repression of the Tibetans, its disavowal of the sacred and temporal position in Tibet of the Dalai Lama.
Oh yes, and there's the little matter of the politely overlooked national aspirations of Taiwan. What country in the world doesn't feel that the Taiwanese deserve their sovereignty, other than China. What country in the world doesn't want to have official relations with Taiwan. What country in the world feels it can afford to bring the wrath of China down upon them?
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Peter McKay has permitted an odd lapse in diplomatic procedure to occur by meeting with the ambassadors of many of the countries of the world which have diplomatic legations in Ottawa, but he has somehow (oops) overlooked a critical courtesy of meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Canada. He's a young man, one cannot understand how it might have slipped his mind.
Oh yes, the same Peter McKay mused aloud about the prevalence of industrial espionage agents from China operating within Canada. Dear, oh dear. This man is the chief of Canada's diplomatic contingent? Guess I'll have to change my mind about the efficacy and delicacy of diplomatic overtures among the diplomatic community; I always had the impression that Canada's diplomatic corps was rather rough-and-tumble, a real scurvy lot.
It does us proud as Canadians that our Prime Minister will state loud and clear that his imperative as the leader of this country is the well-being of Canadians. It is the well-being of a Canadian citizen of Chinese heritage which concerns Mr. Harper, a dissident who decries some of the methods meted out by the Government of China, and for which he is now paying dearly. Incarcerated and incommunicado; China did not even inform the government of Canada of their intent to bring this man to trial'\, to charge him; how revolting. How's that for a diplomatic lapse?
Go to it, Mr. Prime Minister.
As for all those nay-sayers, troubled about their bottom line: remember there's a sizeable trade imbalance between Canada and China. Yes, we'd feel the pinch if all those cheap and well-made consumables stopped flooding our market. We'd know it if our own primary products' flow halted; our natural resources which China badly needs to ensure it can continue its inexorable rise. They receive our primary resources; we receive their finished products.
Hey, who do you think needs the flow continued unabated more, China or Canada?
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, November 19, 2006
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