Chinese Military,Political and Social Superthread

[OceanBonfire]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1582417903747751936

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Not the first time ex-servicemen have worked against the foreign policy of the UK

 

[OldSolduer]

Not the first time ex-servicemen have worked against the foreign policy of the UK

We Canadians teach other countries how to curl and play hockey. I am not aware of any former CAF member working for China.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

We Canadians teach other countries how to curl and play hockey. I am not aware of any former CAF member working for China.

I was referring to ex-British servicemen and officers

 

[OceanBonfire]

The Department of National Defence is looking into reports that the Chinese government might be paying Canadian military fighter jet pilots to train Beijing’s air force.

Is China recruiting Canadian fighter jet pilots? Defence department probing reports - National | Globalnews.ca

"We are aware of these reports, and we are looking into this further with federal partners," confirmed a spokesperson for the department of national defence in a Friday statement.

globalnews.ca

 

[RangerRay]

Sounds like a surprising source is parroting Freeland’s comments about decoupling from Beijing and other authoritarian states.

Time for Western ‘decoupling’ from China and other authoritarian states, says innovation minister

François-Philippe Champagne becomes second cabinet minister to publicly raise the prospect of decreasing trade with authoritarian countries such as China and Russia

www.theglobeandmail.com

Time for Western ‘decoupling’ from China and other authoritarian states, says innovation minister

STEVEN CHASE

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 21 2022, 9:30PM

Canada’s Innovation Minister says he believes there’s a Western consensus forming to decouple from, or reduce trade with, China and other authoritarian countries.


François-Philippe Champagne was speaking Friday before a business audience in Washington at a “fireside chat” event sponsored by groups including the Canadian embassy, the Canadian American Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.


Mr. Champagne is the second federal cabinet minister in the last two weeks to talk publicly about decreasing trade with countries such as China and Russia. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking in Washington on Oct. 11, also talked of the need to embrace policies that shift trade to friendly partners and like-minded democracies: a “friend-shoring” approach that would reduce commercial relations with adversarial countries.


Their comments reinforce public anticipation for Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s coming Indo-Pacific strategy. The term – first championed by Japan and embraced by Australia and the United States – refers to an effort to build common cause between India and Asia-Pacific neighbours with burgeoning middle-class populations that share an interest in addressing China’sgrowing influence in the region, given Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea and other ocean trade routes.

Mr. Champagne on Friday talked up the need for closer co-operation on industrial strategies with the United States, which has taken several deliberate steps in recent months to reduce electric-vehicle technology dependence on China, and to deny Chinese companies access to American semiconductor chips and related technology.

“What we want is certainly a decoupling, certainly from China and I would say other regimes in the world which don’t share the same values,” Mr. Champagne told the Washington audience.

“I think we’re coming to a day and age where citizens – and you see it with trade agreements that have been framed around the world – people want to trade with people who share, usually, the same values,” he said, adding “and, I think, countries which have the high standards with respect to human dignity, with respect to environmental law, to labour law.”

The Innovation Minister cited a titanium mining operation in Canada as an example of how the U.S. can rely on the country’s critical minerals instead of offshore supplies. Mining giant Rio Tinto and the Canadian government are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to modernize a metals processing plant that would handle titanium. He said the titanium powder produced would enable “3-D printing of titanium parts” that could be used by the “defence establishment in the United States.”

Mr. Champagne said Canada’s renewable energy supplies, its skilled work force and its critical minerals should make this country a supplier of choice for allies.

“The economy of the 21st century relies on what we have in abundance in Canada.”

Speaking to reporters Friday, the Innovation Minister said he’s pitched the U.S. on conducting testing and packaging of North American-made microchips in Canada instead of outsourcing this work to China or other Asian countries.

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said the shift in messaging from the Canadian government on trade policy has been a bit abrupt.

He said he believes the Ottawa is trying to ensure that Canadian companies do not find themselves on the wrong side of measures taken by the United States to restructure their supply chains in the name of security.

“The eagerness of trying to demonstrate the important of Canada to the United States has left some question marks about what our global trade policy is. It makes good sense to reduce our economic vulnerability to authoritarian countries and to strengthen partnerships with other democracies, but taken at face value, some of the statements in the last week would upend our trade policy and it deserves a little bit more explanation,” Mr. Paris said.

“Suddenly Canada seems more Catholic than the Pope when it comes to disconnecting ourselves from countries that aren’t democracies.”

In 2021, Canada and Mexico were originally excluded from a Biden administration plan to give American buyers a tax credit for electric vehicles, and only after a significant lobbying campaign was the measure changed in 2022 to include vehicles made in the two neighbours. The measure also restricts where critical minerals for batteries can be sourced to free trade agreement partners of the United States, cutting out China.

Washington recently introduced measures to restrict the sale of semiconductor chips and technology to China, and the U.S.’s allies will be under scrutiny to ensure they are complying and not representing a security risk to the country.

 

[Furniture]

Sounds like a surprising source is parroting Freeland’s comments about decoupling from Beijing and other authoritarian states.

Time for Western ‘decoupling’ from China and other authoritarian states, says innovation minister

François-Philippe Champagne becomes second cabinet minister to publicly raise the prospect of decreasing trade with authoritarian countries such as China and Russia

www.theglobeandmail.com

Time for Western ‘decoupling’ from China and other authoritarian states, says innovation minister

Perhaps the US has finally laid out what the consequences are for GoC not acting like adults.

Though maybe the former GAC minister has always been personally on-side with Freeland's stance.

 

[Kirkhill]

.... a bit abrupt ....

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said the shift in messaging from the Canadian government on trade policy has been a bit abrupt.

I have principles. And if you don't like them I have others.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

.... a bit abrupt ....



I have principles. And if you don't like them I have others.

A bit abrupt?

I am at a loss for words.

 

[Kirkhill]

A bit abrupt?

I am at a loss for words.

Now I'm really curious to hear what Joly has to say....I almost said "for herself".... but I sense that would be inappropriate.

 

[SupersonicMax]

We Canadians teach other countries how to curl and play hockey. I am not aware of any former CAF member working for China.

Don’t be so sure…

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Well seems their numbers were just a tad off. However I suspect the railway will become an important part of the region regardless.

 

[Kirkhill]

Well seems their numbers were just a tad off. However I suspect the railway will become an important part of the region regardless.

It seems the Chinese are determined to outdo the Brits at everything...

The Cape to Cairo Railway was an unfinished project to create a railway line crossing Africa from south to north. It would have been the largest and most important railway of that continent. It was planned as a link between Cape Town in South Africa and Port Said in Egypt.[1][2]

The project was never completed. Important parts which were completed have been inoperative for many years, due to wars and lack of maintenance by the former colonies.

This plan was initiated at the end of the 19th century, during the time of Western colonial rule, largely under the vision of Cecil Rhodes, in the attempt to connect adjacent African possessions of the British Empire through a continuous line from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.[citation needed][3]

Cape to Cairo Railway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Meanwhile it seems their ability to evaluate the feasibility on foreign projects is no better than their domestic capability

 

[FJAG]

Perhaps the US has finally laid out what the consequences are for GoC not acting like adults.

Though maybe the former GAC minister has always been personally on-side with Freeland's stance.

I'll wait to see if "Sox" has anything to say on the subject. With this bunch I wouldn't be surprised if they have a message set for our southern neighbours and a "business as usual" agenda under the table.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Here is a useful (quite recent - just 3 weeks ago) discussion between Condoleezza Rice (Hoover Institution) and Kevin Rudd (Asia Society). The aim is to promote Mr Rudd's new book but he and Dr Rice have an interesting conversation about why Xi Jinping thinks the way he does and about the limits off his ability to "see" the world.

 

[Weinie]

Here is a useful (quite recent - just 3 weeks ago) discussion between Condoleezza Rice (Hoover Institution) and Kevin Rudd (Asia Society). The aim is to promote Mr Rudd's new book but he and Dr Rice have an interesting conversation about why Xi Jinping thinks the way he does and about the limits off his ability to "see" the world.

Thanks Ted, for posting that. Very insightful.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Something I got in my email today

Critical minerals decision another MLI victory on Canada-China policy The federal government’s about-face is yet another in a long line of policy victories for MLI whose experts have long urged wariness in dealing with China.

OTTAWA, ON (November 4, 2022): The federal government has announced that Chinese state-owned enterprises must immediately divest their stakes in three Canadian critical mineral companies. The Macdonald-Laurier Institute has been at the forefront of warning about the dangers of China’s growing influence over critical minerals worldwide and Canadian supply chains in particular and welcomes this policy reversal from Ottawa. MLI’s large body of work on this issue has included: Over 880 mentions of MLI experts and authors in national and international media, commenting specifically on how China’s dominance of critical minerals poses a threat to Canada’s interests. Papers, commentaries, and other publications discussing strategic resources (such as critical minerals and energy resources) in the context of authoritarian threats from countries like Russia and China. Expert webinars on why it is crucial for Canada to seize a leadership role on critical minerals. Parliamentary testimony from MLI experts, such as Senior Fellows Charles Burton and Jeff Kucharski’s comments at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on the subject of Chinese ownership over Canada’s critical minerals. Additionally, Senior Fellows Charles Burton, Stephen Nagy, J. Michael Cole, and Jonathan Berkshire Miller have appeared frequently before the Special Committee of the House of Commons on Canada-China Relations. “Ottawa appears to be recognizing with greater clarity the true nature of the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party regime,” says MLI Senior Fellow Charles Burton. “Though this recognition has been slow in coming about, the federal government has been sending encouraging signals as of late.” This most recent decision fits into a pattern of MLI successes combatting China’s attempts to subordinate Canada’s interests to those of the Communist Party regime in China. Other major victories have included the blocking of the Shandong Gold-TMAC Resources takeover, the blocking of the Aecon deal and, perhaps most importantly, stopping Huawei from being involved in Canada’s 5G infrastructure. MLI was also the leading voice urging caution on the Nexen-CNOOC deal and sounded the alarm in early 2022 when our government failed to do a security review when a Chinese state-owned enterprise sought to purchase a Canadian lithium producer operating in Argentina. These are but a few notable examples of a clear trend: MLI is leading the debate on Canada-China relations. And we are being noticed for our work. Our efforts have been so successful that they have attracted the ire of China’s diplomatic representatives; the Institute is proud to have been officially condemned by the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa. According to MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley, “MLI has a unique distinction: we are the only think tank in Canada to be denounced by Beijing and blacklisted by Russia. “Ottawa’s move to protect Canada’s critical mineral supply chains from Chinese state influence is a welcome change in approach from the government. It is good to see that Canada’s decision-makers are waking up to the threat posed by China about which our experts have long warned.” For further information, media are invited to contact: Skander Belouizdad Communications Officer 613-482-8327 x111 skander.belouizdad@macdonaldlaurier.ca

 

[RangerRay]

Not good at all. Heads should be rolling if true.

Canada facing ‘aggressive games’ from China, others amid interference report: Trudeau - National | Globalnews.ca

In January, Canadian intelligence officials presented Justin Trudeau and several cabinet ministers with allegations of Beijing’s efforts to further its influence in Canada.

globalnews.ca

 

[FSTO]

Just watched a documentary on Prime about the Chinese one Child policy. Holy bloody hell, how anyone can think that this is a rational regime that certain members of our leadership class seem to think they can work with.

China is run by power mad psychopaths and woe to us if we think that there is any reason for us to engage in any good faith relations with them.

 

[RangerRay]

A Terry Glavin triple-header.

Terry Glavin: What's it going to take for the Liberals to crack down on Chinese subterfuge?

Intelligence officials have shouted into the void for years about Beijing's interference in federal elections and public policy

nationalpost.com

Dominic Barton, and the Damage Done. Part 1.

All the king's horses aren't going to make a difference. Not this time. It's too late.

therealstory.substack.com

Dominic Barton, and the Damage Done. Part 2.

More from the shadows cast by the Liberals' very own Mephistopheles in the glaring light of a scandal involving Beijing's operatives in Canada. With unreported malfeasance from Moscow to Istanbul.

therealstory.substack.com

In any other country, this would be a huge scandal and people would be arrested.