Turning The Screw

"So far I can't perceive any meaningful response by the Canadian government to anything China's been doing since December."
"And I think that's emboldening the Chinese to recognize they have people within our government who are prepared to bow to their interests."
Charles Burton, former Canadian diplomat in Beijing

"We call on China to grant clemency for Mr. Fan."
"It is of extreme concern to our government that China has chosen to apply the death penalty, a cruel and inhumane punishment."
"Global Affairs Canada has been closely following this case and has been providing consular assistance to Mr. Fan and his family since he was first detained in 2012."
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs statement

"Quiet diplomacy hasn't worked. It's time for us to reset and to be firm. This is the only language that China understands ..."
"We need to review our engagement strategy with China to take into account this dark side."
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canadian Ambassador to China, 2012 - 2016 

"We are in the process of resolving this. It is not an easy situation, but it is one that we have taken very seriously and will continue to work very hard on."
"[China's actions are] not right, but its barriers to agricultural imports represent a] scientific-based disagreement [tensions representing a ripple effect in Beijing';s trade dispute with the U.S."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

"[It's time to abandon the] misguided [doctrine of broad, unquestioning engagement representing various Canadian governments' attitudes toward China]."
"The days of indiscriminately encouraging China-bound travel and pumping Canadian delegations into China, a state that capriciously detains foreigners, are over."
David Mulroney, Canadian Ambassador to China, 2009 - 2012

BEIJING, CHINA – DECEMBER 04: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) accompanies Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) to view an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony inside the Great Hall of the People on December 4, 2017 in Beijing, China. At the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of China, Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau will pay an official visit to China from Dec 3 to 7. Lintao Zhang / Getty Images

This is a prime minister out of his depth. He has no idea how to respond to threats and aggressive actions taken by a country he desperately wanted to impress with his finesse in orchestrating a free trade agreement that would take in a number of social-cultural issues of no particular interest to the Chinese Politburo but of immense popular appeal to a 'progressive' government like Trudeau's with his stifling emphasis on women's empowerment, embrace of LGBTQ2 causes, the environment and workers' rights.

He felt his sanctimonious righteousness would surely be applauded by a government like China's with its immense bureaucracy and focus on trade expansion entirely at China's choosing and benefit, entirely taken aback at Beijing's disinterest in signing the agreement that Trudeau had travelled to China, pen in hand, intending to return to Canada with the much-vaunted deal. Now that China has imprisoned two Canadians, accusing them of espionage, and sentenced two other Canadians to death for drug-smuggling, Trudeau still struggles to appease in whatever way he can.

Added to the arrest of Canadians is China's refusal to accept shipments of Canadian Canola products designating them suddenly unfit for consumption in China, Chinese inspectors having purportedly found them to be pest-infested. That refusal to accept Canola has now been extended to additional Canadian agricultural products; peas, soybeans and pork, similarly found to contain 'infestations'. These embargoes are patently transparent, representing China's rage at the arrest of Huawei's CFO on a U.S. extradition warrant in Canada. Trudeau prefers to refer to the issue as "science-based".

China accused Canada of 'racism', insisted on the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Chinese communications giant Huawei's founder. China has also fumed and fulminated and threatened Canada should Huawei not be contracted with for Canada's new G-5 communications network, on suspicion of cyber-espionage. According to a suggestion from former diplomat-to-China Charles Burton, Canada could invoke the massive influx of deadly fentanyl smuggled into Canada from China in response to the Canola embargo, to launch new restrictions on Chinese imports.

Huawei says it can't speak for the Chinese government issue of arrested Canadians

The plight of ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor imprisoned, held incommunicado and undergoing dire conditions including torture, unable to contact their families and permitted scant legal support, remains as a scathing indictment of Canada's impotence and China's vituperative rage. They, and Robert Schellenberg, and now Fan Wei, two more Canadians accused of drug trafficking and sentenced to death spell a one-sided vendetta on the part of China, and a mystified and incapable-of-response Canadian government.

A still image taken from CCTV video shows Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg in court, where he was sentenced with a death penalty for drug smuggling, in Dalian, Liaoning province, China January 14, 2019. CCTV/Reuters TV via REUTERS

Bilateral trade between the two countries, estimated at $64-billion annually is a powerful incentive for Prime Minister Trudeau to make some headway in countering China's State Economic and Trade Commission intransigence and Beijing's devotion to extracting its pounds of flesh from unfortunate Canadians who happen to be in China and vulnerable to arrest. Leader of Canada's official opposition, Andrew Scheer, points out the practical response of Canada withdrawing $256 million committed to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in China.

And bringing a challenge to Beijing's Canola barriers to the World Trade Organization for neutral arbitration. China, after all, enjoys a trade surplus with Canada of $32-billion. Cutting off Chinese imports to any part of the world, much less Canada, would represent a virtually impossible solution, given that Chinese manufacturing has overtaken all other sources of manufactured goods world-wide; seeking substitutes would be mind-boggling. This is where China has an international stranglehold on goods production.

One China expert is all for continued efforts at appeasement of the irascible trade giant. Yanling Wang, an international economics professor at Carleton University says: "You feel better emotionally by standing tall, by feeling tough. But I'm afraid that may not be the best option to solve the problem", she asserts, and no doubt her opinion is held dearly by Justin Trudeau, the novice head of government.

Yanling Wang, a former researcher with China's State Economic and Trade Commission, has stated a view dear to Justin Trudeau's heart. China, whose government he so admires for its ability, as a dictatorial state to "turn on a dime" (its economy, its politics, its focus, its enterprise and its global ambition to equal the U.S. as a power giant) is providing Trudeau, the admirer of 'socialism' and governments such as Cuba's, with a teachable moment.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press