Beijing's Malicious Spite

"This tweet stood out to me because it is so much more provocative [than the usual trifling bite-back comments]."

"It's ramping up things much more than what had come through official channels." 

Adrian Zenz, anthropologist, researcher in China's human rights abuses

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week visited the Cowessess First Nation, where a search had found 751 unmarked graves. Beside him is Chief Cadmus Delorme. Photo by Shannon VanRaes / Reuters

"Convincing people of moral equivalence between China and Canada is a huge win for Beijing given our respective reputations."

"It also helps China if foreign observers see Xinjiang through the prism of Canada's residential schools program."

"[Yet, Beijing refuses to admit it is involved in] a vast, ambitious and multifaceted 21st Century genocide."

David Mulroney, former Canadian ambassador to Beijing, fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs

Hu Xijin 胡锡进

@HuXijin_GT

China state-affiliated media

Who is this man? Isn't he worried about the indigenous people spitting on his face?

 

A cartoon derisive of the Prime Minister of Canada who has latterly overseen, though not himself initiating, Parliamentary censures of China for its treatment of minority Muslim groups in China -- with new revelations being unleashed in the world media of sensational discoveries of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the sites of former mandatory residential schools established in Canada over a hundred years ago by previous Canadian governments with a view to preparing First Nations children to be integrated into the larger society, leaving their ancestral languages, customs and families behind -- has found favour with Chinese diplomats and news media.

The cartoons are the work of a Twitter account holder living in China, even though the Chinese government bans most of its citizens from access to Twitter. Describing herself as an ordinary citizen, her brief bio sketch identifies her as someone proud that Zhao Lijian, the Chinese ambassador to Australia "is really fond of me". Australia has had more than ample lash-back of the fury of Beijing for the Australian government's impudence in insisting that China must be held accountable for its lack of due diligence in preventing the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic.

As pay-back, the Chinese Communist Party has harassed and belittled Australia, punished its large trading partner by cancelling out or holding up imports into China. Australia investigative reports of China's ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang province has been yet another irritant between the two countries, particularly since Australia succeeded in drawing attention to the plight of the Uyghurs and bringing its Western democratic allies on board to censure China.

 

Protesters hold photos of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, abducted by China as hostages.

For the past two-and-a-half years, Beijing has been expressing its rage against Canada for arresting Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou on an extradition request from the United States, which brought Beijing to retaliate by kidnapping two Canadian citizens in China, accusing them of espionage, and subjecting them over a period of more than two years to inhumane prison conditions in an attempt to coerce the government of Canada to release Ms.Meng from bail custody in Vancouver. 

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long courted China, anxious to sign trade agreements with the trading colossus. Mr. Trudeau has on more than one occasion in the past, expressed his admiration for China's brand of tyranny for its efficiency in governing and excelling in its economic sphere of hugely successful corporate production, trade and profitability. Ever cautious of criticizing Beijing whose agents have been allowed to infiltrate Canada's government, academia, science and technology, in the process scoping out Canada's trade secrets and absconding with scientific and technological advances belonging to Canada, Mr. Trudeau is now the butt of Chinese spite.

 

The man who worked so assiduously to try to ingratiate himself with China and its Communist politburo to advance Canada's interests in free trade with China, but who failed to succeed even though the political party he heads continues to see such an agreement as a priority for Canada, is now being berated and belittled for obliquely causing embarrassment to China on the world stage. Some might call it just desserts. On the other hand, it stands as an example of the low behaviour that China excels at.

The cartoon in question shows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seated on the skulls of Canada's First Nations people with gravestones in the background and the legend: "We stole your land, we killed your men, we buried your child (sic)", with a smirking Trudeau smugly content as vultures circle in the background, and the finishing line to the statement: "Let's reconcile". A Chinese diplomat and the editor-in-chief of a Chinese Communist Party newspaper re-tweeted the cartoon with their own comments appended.

"Who is this man? Isn't he worried about the indigenous people spitting on his face?", jeered Hu Xijin of Global Times. As for Beijing's consul general in Rio de Janeiro, Li Yang ridiculed the Canadian prime minister: "Do you think your so-called reconciliation is worth showing off?!!!" Needless to say, none of this undiplomatic and juvenile behaviour would be on if it were not encouraged by China's President Xi, seemingly oblivious to the obvious, that world leaders normally do not engage in this type of low-character assassination.

Beijing's calling card.

 

Police patrol the compound at No.2 Intermediate Peoples Court in Beijing during the trial of Canadian Michael Kovrig