Global Trade? Cap-in-Hand to China

"I would like to caution the Canadian side against being too naive."
"First, it shouldn't be so naive as to believe that asking its so-called ally to pressure China will work."
"China is a country with the rule of law and the judicial authorities handle cases independently. China's judicial sovereignty brooks no interference."
Geng Shuang, spokesman, Chinese foreign ministry

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping listen to opening remarks at a plenary session at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan on Friday June 28, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Most certainly Canada is naive in its initial expectation that there would be no repercussions from its honouring an extradition treaty it has signed with the United States, under which in view of a U.S. justice order to detain Huawei's Meng Wanzhou on fraud charges, the daughter of Huawei's founder was arrested and now awaits extradition to the United States on that warrant, living the meanwhile in one of her two Vancouver mansions. Canada 'brooks no interference' in its independent judicial system.

However, Canada was swiftly disabused of its blase attitude this past January that in following both U.S. and Canadian law all would be well, when former Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye launched into a blistering verbal assault deprecating in the sternest terms Canada's white supremacist attitude to Chinese nationals, demanding the immediate release of Ms. Meng, and promising stinging retribution were Canada to fail in heeding his warning.

This led to the arrest of two Canadians; a former diplomat and a travel entrepreneur, Michael Kovrig and Michel Spavor. When their arrest on charges of espionage -- and prison conditions including the kind of subtle torture favoured by China of never-ending interrogation, isolation, no relief from blinding lights in cells day or night, being held incommunicado, all relics of China's esteemed system of "justice" -- played out , Canada understood it was playing with fire.

And then came economic sanctions Chinese-style when the Chinese market for Canadian canola suddenly dried up because of 'pest-infested' shipments. Followed by a moratorium on the import of Canadian swine and beef products related to a mysterious matter of fake export permits whose origins are unknown. For good measure in this retaliatory war of spiteful wretchedness, two other Canadians are now on death row, charged with drug-running in a China whose mass production of deadly laboratory-produced opiates has caused powerful fentanyl and carfentanil overdoses in Canada.

While Canadian justice has honoured one of its many treaties with its neighbour -- its neighbour has hinted that the Huawei issue of side-stepping U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iranian oil which is the fulcrum around which this issue pivots -- its neighbour hints the issue could disappear if trade talks between the U.S. and China went well in the near future. During which course trade would resume as normal and American farmers could pick up the slack left by shutting Canadian farm products out of China.

With "Canada is back" cap in hand, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to Washington several weeks ago to appeal to President Donald Trump to use his influence with Chinese Premier Xi to free the Canadian hostages, and President Trump agreed he would speak to Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Japan, because no one in the Chinese Communist Party will speak to anyone in the Canadian government. This is the same Justin Trudeau who mocked Donald Trump at the last G20 held in Quebec, no less.

"Second, it shouldn't be so naive as to believe that its so-called ally will earnestly pursue a Canadian agenda."
"They will only pay a lip service, at best. The matter is, after all, between China and Canada."
Geng Shuang, spokesman, Chinese foreign ministry

Canada and Canada alone is responsible for the degeneration of relations between itself and trade giant China, emphasize the Chinese. Not that China, in its dogged pursuit of tactics to force Canada to release Ms. Meng and abjectly apologize for overstepping its 'authority' as a sovereign nation minds a little sacrifice of its own to achieve its goals. Swine flu has decimated Chinese internally accessed pork market, leaving Chinese consumers in dire need of imports, including those now locked out of China....

Pigs at the Meloporc farm in Saint-Thomas de Joliette, Que. on June 26, 2019. Canada is investigating the origin of a tainted pork shipment and bogus documents that prompted China to ban Canadian meat and further strained tense relations.   Sebastien St-Jean / AFP / Getty

The extradition treaty between Canada and the U.S. is quite the inconvenience, at the very least in this particular event. Mind, China's 'rule of law' and system of justice it so celebrates is not particularly beloved of Chinese citizens of Hong Kong who have mounted massive protests related to just such an extradition treaty Beijing is busy imposing on Hong Kong and which the citizens of that bustling trade centre of global renown interpret as China's heavy hand in imposing itself on the semi-autonomous island-city which has just slapped that hand away.

"Who are they to say there is no value in Canada talking to its allies about issues that we have abroad in a multilateral system? That's how we do diplomacy."
"We talk [to other Western democratic nations] about those two detained Canadians, we talk of allegations that our canola somehow contains impurities. And our allies are agreeing with us. And in their own way and within their own comfort zones, there are many messages being sent to Chinese officials."
Canada's International Trade Minister Jim Carr

So how is Trudeau's Canada reacting to Beijing's bullying? Reciprocating by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods entering Canada? Threatening as China does, to cut off access to the Canadian market for Chinese goods and investment? Not quite. The Liberal government's minister of small business, Mary Ng along with the head of the Canada-China Business Council are now in China, ostensibly drumming up more business for Canada in China, making an effort to becalm Chinese waters.

A cleaner drives a sweeper-scrubber past a flower installation for the Davos meeting by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 11, 2019.Reuters/Stringer