Liberal Government of Canada Sinophile Fetish
"It would have been easy for the government just to keep quiet on this and let the award process go forward.""The government has to take action so it can be seen as being a lot more supportive of Taiwan. I've been saying for a long time we have to drop the white gloves and be a lot more forceful and firm in our actions with China."Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian ambassador to China"Instead of supporting the people of Taiwan, the Trudeau Liberals have threatened to pull support from the forum if the organizers went ahead with the award.""This attempt to silence those critical of China is shameful. Canada should support those who stand up and speak out against the Chinese Communist Party's violations of human rights and international law."Conservative Member of Parliament, and foreign affairs critic Michael Chong"President Tsai of Taiwan is a well-respected international leader, the first female president of Taiwan and a strong global advocate for democracy.""She would certainly be an ideal fit for this award [2020 John McCain award]."Robin Shepherd, vice-president, Halifax Forum
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| Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech at an event. | Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo |
Canada's Liberal government has once again become the recipient of a storm of criticism, naming its posture toward the People's Republic of China as a "disgrace" and "shameful" in the wake of a media report outlining that government officials had made an effort to block an award geared to be presented to the president of Taiwan, in Canada. Federal government officials had threatened to withdraw funding to the Halifax International Security forum should it award the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to Tsai Ingwen, Taiwan's president.
The Liberal decision was attributed to a fear of offending the Communist Party of China, notoriously sensitive to any whiff of 'insult' toward it by anyone or any entity or any other nation. Since Beijing has made no secret of Chinese President Xi Jinping's passion for 're-uniting" China by absorbing Hong Kong and Taiwan, two breakaway democratic states that have no interest whatever in being ruled by mainland China, any nod to someone like Taiwan's president's courageous stand against Beijing's intimidation tactics is certain to infuriate Chinese authorities.
Canada, like other Western democratic countries, particularly Australia, has felt the sting of Beijing's displeasure on previous occasions, and the Canadian Liberal government, still harbouring hopes that somehow it can manage to sign a free-trade agreement with China, even though Beijing's hostage diplomacy and human rights abuses toward Tibetans, Falon Gong and Turkic Muslim minorities are well known and deplored, fears further animosity directed against Canada from Beijing.
Canada, charge the two former Canadian ambassadors to China, has eschewed any action, however seemingly innocent, to infuriate an already apoplectic China, furious over criticism it has and continues to receive over its treatment of Chinese Uyghurs. In this latest instance where Canada's Liberals have trod on eggshells over China, it is in response to the Halifax International Security Forum choosing to award recognition of Taiwan's president's courage in the face of China's bullying.
The annual event hosted by the Halifax International Security Forum sees attendance by highly influential military officials and politicians. This year, the John McCain prize for courage was to have been awarded to Taiwan's president in recognition of her defiance of China, and her determination that her island state remain sovereign, separate and apart from mainland China. Her successful efforts in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan was also part of the award.
"Canada's Feminist Foreign Policy has no room for one of the most courageous, principled, and seriously threatened women on the planet", wrote David Mulroney, another former Canadian ambassador to China, on Twitter. It is President Xi Jinping's "China dream" of national revival that has him determined to return Taiwan to the Chinese fold of state Communism. Lately, China has been flying military jets through Taiwanese security airspace. And while President Biden has expressed his distaste for Chinese moves, he has done nothing concrete to dissuade Beijing.
Meghan McCain, former Senator McCain's daughter spoke her mind: "Absolutely pathetic -- Canadian government is a bunch of cowards condoning Chinese genocide".
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| In this Aug. 31, 2016 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China. Photo by Wu Hong / Pool /REUTERS / FILES |
Labels: Beijing, Beijing's Sensitivities, Government of Canada, Liberal Free Trade Ambitions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Xi Jinping
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, April 14, 2021
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