A Country in Dire Straits

"We're really not clear on the scale of the destruction at this stage."

"They were talking about a town near Mandalay where 80 percent of the buildings were reportedly collapsed."

"But it wasn't in the news because telecommunications have been slow."

Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs, Myanmar, International Rescue Committee 

 

"Water, both in quantity and in quality, is immensely lacking in the whole country and most specifically in the regions affected by the earthquake."

"The lack of water is creating an issue in terms of immediate survival, but could also create an issue in terms epidemics in the future that we definitely want to avoid."

Field Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Mikhael De Souza  

People queue for relief supplies after a strong earthquake near the earthquake's epicenter, in Sagaing, Myanmar, March 31, 2025.  Reuters

"With USAID effectively gutted and critical staff receiving their final notices in the midst of an emergency, the US Government's ability to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and future crises is severely compromised."

"Speed, collaboration, and resources are life and death matters when disaster strikes. The illegal decision to dismantle USAID means the U.S. will be unable to show up like it has in past emergencies."

"The U.S. has already missed the first urgent window to help find survivors. The second wave of crisis is the millions of people displaced who will soon face threats of disease, hunger, and more without access to clean water, food, shelter and other resources."

"The Trump administration must step up and continue the U.S. legacy of providing partnership and leadership right now for the communities who need urgent support."

Abby Maxman, president and CEO, Oxfam America

Rescue teams work to evacuate residents trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Sunday.  Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images

 

Last week's massive earthquake in Myanmar has seen the death toll well past 2,000, according to state media. Rescuers spoke of several hundred Muslim, praying at mosques during Ramadan, were crushed to death when the mosques collapsed. A collapsing monastery crushed 200 Buddhist monks.

"The straight nature [of the fault] means earthquakes can rupture over large areas - and the larger the area of the fault that slips, the larger the earthquake."

"To accommodate all of this motion, [the Indian plate moving beneath the Burma microplate], faults - cracks in the rock - form which allow tectonic plates to 'slither' sideways." 

"There have been six magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes in this region in the last century."

Dr Rebecca Bell, reader in tectonics at Imperial College London

Daw Khin Saw Myint, 72, and her granddaughter are among thousands sleeping outdoors after losing their homes   BBC

Bangkok is an impoverished country, a country embroiled in a civil war, where humanitarian organizations are already challenged in their efforts to respond to the needs of the civilian population. The effects of the earthquake are predicted to exacerbate the outbreak of hunger and disease. 

The 7.7 magnitude quake's epicentre on Friday hit close to Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, damaging the city's airport. The tremor buckled roads while hundreds of buildings along the country's central area collapsed. Power outages have hampered relief efforts, as have shortages of fuel and problematic communications.

 

Search-and-rescue operations have been hampered by a lack of heavy machinery. The result of which has been rescuers without tools using their bare hands to remove rubble in their search for survivors. Daily temperatures in the region register 40 degrees celsius. At Mandalay's collapsed U Hla Thein monastery rescuers were still searching for some 150 of the dead monks.

 

Rescuers face tough conditions to retrieve the bodies of victims, with temperatures reaching nearly 40C  BBC

 

Approximately 700 Muslim worshippers at Friday prayers were trapped and killed when mosques collapsed. According to a member of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network, 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed. Several mosques were seen toppling, on videos posted on the Irrawaddy online news site.

 

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the military government, informed the prime minister of Pakistan that 2,065 people had died in the earthquake, and over 3,900 were injured, while some 270 people remain missing. Numbers that relief agencies expect to rise sharply in reflection of slow access to remote areas where communications are non-operational.

 

According to the World Health Organization, three hospitals were destroyed, with 22 others partly damaged in the region. A number of countries have sent rescue teams to the scene; Israel, Russia, China, India and a few southeast Asian countries. Millions of dollars in aid have been promised by the European Union, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others. 

Five men are still stuck under this building.    BBC

Charming Beijing Captivates Liberal Loyalty

"[These comments] deeply offended, [demonstrating a] terrible lapse in judgement [however, the episode could serve as a] teachable moment."

"This is a person of integrity who served his community as a senior police officer for ... more than a quarter of [a] century. He's made a terrible lapse in judgement."

"He's made his apology. He's made it to the public, he's made it to the individual concerned, he's made it directly to me, and he's going to continue with his candidacy."

"He has my confidence." 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

 

"[The response by Mr. Carney is indeed a] teachable moment."

"It teaches us that Mark Carney will never stand up for Canada."

"If Mark Carney won't stand up for a Canadian against this foreign hostile regime now, how could we ever expect  him to stand up for Canada after the election?"

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre

 

"He is a police officer, and he ought to know that when the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] went out and put a bounty on anybody, including Canadians, that cannot be acceptable."

"That is intimidation at its worst."

NDP MP Jenny Kwan

 

"What we saw was the news of the bounty was sort of re-upped, but we're just watching the open space for anything related to that." 

"That alone, I think, is a form of coercion."

"Spreading, again, the information about the bounty is precisely how malign foreign states seek to silence, harass and coerce."

Rapid Response Mechanism head Larisa Galadza, Global Affairs Canada

Paul Chiang is seeking re-election in Markham-Unionville, a riding he took from the Conservatives in 2021 by a margin of fewer than 2,500 votes. Justin Tang The Canadian Press file photo

"If  you can take him to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, you can get the million-dollar reward", advised Liberal electoral candidate Paul Chiang to an news conference comprised of Chinese-language media, in reference to Conservative candidate Joe Tay who had been charged under the Hong Kong national security law as a threat to Beijing for his Canada-based YouTube channel critical of the Beijing-dominated CCP government.

 

When the comment hit headlines in the legacy media in Canada, calls for the Liberal party to disown Mr. Chiang and remove him as a Liberal candidate for the April 28 federal election expressed the disgust of most Canadians. Derisory statements by opposing political party candidates are not uncommon during election campaigns, but seldom do they cross the line into currying to foreign interference in Canada's affairs and certainly never to the extent that one candidate incites to violence against another.

 

Pressure came fast and furious even within the Liberal party for Mr. Chaing to be removed as a candidate in view of his comments last week. The bounty in  question, in Hong Kong dollars $1 million, transcribes to $183,000 in Canadian currency. Any taker could be assured of earning themselves a reward for luring the Conservative candidate to appear at the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto where he would be spirited to China and imprisoned as a traitor to Beijing -- but certainly not to China.

 

Mr. Chaing informed the Chinese-language media that given Mr. Tay's position on China and Beijing's response, should Mr. Tay be elected to Parliament, the Hong King criminal charge would be a cause of "great controversy", according to the Ming Pao newspaper. And no doubt it would, since the Liberal Party goes out of its way to pacify Beijing, and continues to build on its relationship through trade, despite the assaults on Canadian sovereignty where Canadians have been falsely imprisoned, Canadians have received the death penalty in China, and Chinese interference in Canadian affairs is deeply troubling.

 

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says Paul Chiang will remain a candidate under his banner, despite calls to drop the Markham-Unionville incumbent for suggesting people turn in a Conservative candidate to the Chinese consulate and collect a bounty.   CBC News

Even so, even when Canadian Intelligence has warned government on many occasions through updated reports that China is among those countries -- foremost among those countries -- that have used their expatriate Chinese-Canadian community originally from Mainland China to act as agents for Beijing, as well as instructing all expats that it is their ancestral patriotic duty to infiltrate and capture whatever advances in technology, science, medicine, and military news helpful to be conveyed to China's possession.

 

Mr. Chiang himself saw fit to apologize soon after  his comments were publicized:

"The comments I made were deplorable and a complete lapse of judgement on the seriousness of the matter. I sincerely apologize and deeply regret my comments."

"I will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong in their fight to safeguard their human rights and freedoms."

 

And while unelected PM-incumbent Mark Carney is satisfied to let the matter lie there and continue to approve Mr. Chiang as a Liberal candidate, the man himself took the initiative to resign from the Liberal candidacy. Whether his apology is sincere is debatable. He still took the right course in apologizing and taking himself out of the election. There is no debate that Mr. Carney, on the other hand, has often engaged in dishonourable conduct. He has bent the truth to suit his fabricated explanations.

 

And on this occasion he has spectacularly failed to act with conscience and integrity. Canadians should hold him to account for this, yet another lapse in judgement on his part. On the other hand, government officials tasked with identifying and responding to foreign threats during the election period acknowledge they are monitoring the situation closely. Moreover, the RCMP has opened an investigation in the matter. While the man aspiring to be elected Prime Minister of Canada succumbed to his own lack of moral integrity.

 

Mr. Tay has been left uneasy and concerned over his safety, given the obvious nature of the threats against him posed by a foreign government whose record on human rights is abysmal. He has stated that the situation left him fearing for his safety. Spurring him to get in touch with the RCMP for his personal protection, and demanding that Carney fire Chiang. A demand that thirteen pro-democracy groups in Canada linked to Hong Kong produced a statement urging the Liberal Party to "send a clear message" in removing Chiang's candidacy, making it clear they cannot accept his "insincere apology".  

"I want to be clear: no apology is sufficient."

"Threats like these are the tradecraft of the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in Canada."

"And they are not just aimed at me. They are intended to send a chilling signal to the entire community in order to force compliance to Beijing's political goals."

Conservative federal election candidate Joe Tay 

"[Foreign interference, including instances of transnational repression, continue to be a] pervasive threat in Canada [and the federal police takes all reports and allegations seriously]."

"The RCMP is looking into the matter, however no specific details can be provided at this time."

"To ensure the integrity of our investigations, the RCMP typically does not disclose information relating to investigations unless criminal charges are laid, rendering it a matter of public record."

RCMP spokesperson Kristine Kelly 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in New Brunswick, says Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s decision to stand by candidate Paul Chiang, who called for people to turn in Conservative candidate Joe Tay for a Chinese bounty, ‘teaches us that Mark Carney will never stand up for Canada.’ Poilievre added that he spoke to Tay and he is ‘very, very rattled.’   CBC

"It is a teachable moment. It teaches us that Mark Carney will never stand up for Canada."

"The Chinese government literally wants to kill Joe Tay because he’s a political dissident. And this candidate said that that should happen."

"I have never in my life seen a prime minister unwilling to protect a Canadian citizen against a foreign government that wants to take his life through a bounty."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre

 

One of Those Who Considers Himself the Most Intelligent Mind in the Room

"I believe you are mischaracterizing this work. As an academic of nearly 40 years, I see no evidence of plagiarism in the thesis you cited nor any unusual academic practices."

"Mark's thesis was evaluated and approved by a faculty committee that saw his work for what it is; an impressive and thoroughly researched analysis that set him apart from his peers."

Margaret Meyer, Official Fellow of Economics, Nuffield College, Oxford University

 

"Oxford's guidelines are not atypical from other universities."

"When you have something lifted verbatim from a source, in there without quotation marks or citation ... that constitutes plagiarism."

Oxford graduate professor

 

"He's just directly repeating without quotations. That's what we call plagiarism."

"[Some of Liberal Leader Mark Carney's thesis questions might be considered by some as more of a] grey area, [but it would still constitute plagiarism according to Oxford standards."

"It seems like it's [examples of plagiarism] all over the dissertation."

Geoffrey Sigalet, assistant professor, member UBC president's advisory committee on student discipline

 

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that elite economist and now leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Mark Carney, who has taken on the as-yet-unelected mantle of Canadian Prime Minister's 1995 doctoral thesis in economics from Oxford University, titled 'The Dynamic Advantage of Competition' is fairly well shot through with examples of plagiarism, an absolute sin in academic circles, as it is in journalism and other recorded-word disciplines. A total corruption of what is felt to be authentic, original observations based on study and analysis.

 

According to the learned judgement of three university academics there are ten distinct instances of apparent plagiarism in that doctoral thesis. Full quotes, paraphrases, or slightly modified quotes from four different writers previously published were used by this aspiring economist completely lacking acknowledgement or proper attribution. In the investigation leading to an expose published just recently, Oxford University administrators failed to respond to a request for comment. 

His election adversary, Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, did respond by commenting on X:  

Mark Carney loves to brag about his experience. Here it is: 

• - Plagiarism 
• - Tax evasion 
• - Creative accounting -
•  Abusing tenants 
• - Union busting 
• - Moving his headquarters out of Canada to the U.S. 
• - Denying insurance claims to coal miners dying of black lung 
• - Taking massive loans from Chinese state-owned banks 
• - Advisor to Justin Trudeau on the economy

 

Examples abound of Mr. Carney's laissez-faire attitude toward straightforward truth where he has been caught out on a number of occasions dissembling and playing with verifiable facts in an effort to shield himself from the responsibility incumbent on one who expects to be believed by a wide segment of the population when he declares himself fit and prepared to lead a nation. So perhaps it isn't quite surprising that his lax demeanor reflecting a propensity to lift other peoples' ideas and present them as his own has become habitual with the man.

 

There is the direct example of his lifting and adopting ideas and promises made by the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament during the current federal election campaign. Barely changing the wording of campaign pledges originating with Pierre Poilievre, to present them as his very own inspirations to better the lives of Canadians. Making other statements to appeal to the electorate that clearly belie his oft-stated beliefs and priorities which clash directly with those statements geared to impress voters in a positive manner.

 

In Mr. Carney's thesis he refers extensively to a 1990 book by Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, where he duplicated parts of Porter's work, presenting sentences with minor tweaks, as his very own brainchilds. Writing in his thesis virtually exactly what he had taken out of Porter's book, adding "an" to a sentence and "even", without quotation marks to alert the reader, without the addition of a footnote to reference someone else's work being quoted.

 

All perfectly acceptable, according to his thesis supervisor at Oxford who stated that "it is typical that overlapping language appears" when sources are "frequently referenced in an academic text. For example, over the course of this more than 300-page thesis, the Michael Porter book ... is cited dozens of times. Within his thesis, Mark acknowledged, cited, scrutinized and expanded on this piece", she elaborated, noting that his PHD thesis is "twice as long" as her own. Statements that should raise some eyebrows.

In some instances Mr. Carney duplicates another author's sentences using minor alterations, replacing "for example", with "e.g.", or changing one or a few words, for "be" to "become", or "likelihood" to "probability". Proper citation was not added to indicate he had lifted an author's words, nor were quotation marks added. Shifty practices which anyone who considers themselves as highly intelligent as Carney does, would acknowledge them to be.

 

Canada is due to go to the polls on April 28   GETTY

"[Plagiarism is regarded by Oxford University] as a serious matter."

"Cases will be investigated and penalties may range from deduction of marks to expulsion from the University, depending on the seriousness of the occurrence."

"[Oxford University defines plagiarism as [p]resenting work or ideas from another source as your own ... by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement."

Oxford University Website 

On its website, Oxford University says it regards plagiarism “as a serious matter.” Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images

101: Making Friends and Influencing People

"As you all know, it's a big issue and it's only going to get bigger over the coming decades."

"It's cold as s--- here. Nobody told me."

"[Danish leaders have] spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second-class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair."

"Denmark has not kept pace and devoted the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and other nations."

"I think that they [Greenlanders] ultimately will partner with the United States. We can make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they'd fare a lot better economically as well."

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance

JD Vance in Greenland BBC

"[The United States] needs Greenland for international security."

"Greenland's very important for the peace of the world. And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don't we're going to have to explain it to them."

"We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%." 

U.S. President Donald J. Trump 

"It is a time when we as a population are under pressure."

"We must stick together. Together we are stronger."

"[The U.S. visit signaled a] lack of respect."

Greenland's PM-designate Jens-Frederik Nielson

 

"[Donald Trump Jr's visit in January first sparked concerns] that’s when we realized that his words are no longer just words, he actually means what he says."

"We’re afraid of being colonized again. We’ve been a colony for the past 300 years under Denmark, it still feels like it. Now another colonizer is interested in us."

"[Greenland needs to be] open-minded [and consider strengthening relations with the US to secure a sustainable independence strategy]."

"Trump is only going to be president for the next four years so we also need to think about what’s going to happen in 10 years, 15 years."

Qupanuk Olsen, Greenland politician, pro-independence party Naleraq

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance was in Greenland on Friday, slamming Denmark for not doing a good job in keeping its semi-autonomous territory safe. But as Greenland content creator Qupanuk Olsen explains, many Greenlanders did not roll out the red carpet for Vance.   CBC

 

It's hard to say whether President Trump's representatives in his White House Cabinet really expected to be welcomed with huge enthusiasm by Greenlanders in their shared trip to Greenland on Friday. Originally the trip was to have lasted longer, and be more expansive, but in the face of obvious push-back by offended Greenlanders who consider their semi-autonomous government under Denmark's protection the arbiter of who should embark on a state visit to their island, and that by special invitation, an invitation that hadn't been extended. 

 

As far as Greenlanders were concerned, the visit by US. Vice-President Vance, his wife and other senior American officials took it upon themselves as an act of hubris to visit unannounced and uninvited; their home, as it were, invaded by strangers. Strangers, no less, with designs on their homeland that are extraordinarily offensive; offering to buy a home that is definitely not for sale. In the end, the visitors confined their trip to visiting the American military outpost at Pituffik on the northwest coast of Greenland. In the process, evading the risk of violating diplomacy through an uninvited delegation.

 

With U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to take over Greenland, the country’s prime minister has called a visit by a U.S. delegation a provocation and highly aggressive. The Americans on the trip include national security adviser Mike Waltz and Usha Vance, the vice-president’s wife.  CBC

Nonetheless both Greenlanders and Danes were offended that the trip took place at all, but even more so that the original itinerary had been planned without customary diplomatic consultation beforehand. Addressing American troops at the U.S. Space Force Pituffik outpost informing them that the Trump administration is very interested in "Arctic security", Vice-President Vance advanced the Trump agenda. His entourage that included national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Senator Mike Lee of Utah then received briefings from military officials present at the base.

 

"As you all know, it's a big issue and it's only going to get bigger over the coming decades", Mr. Vance advised  his listeners, as the first U.S. vice-president to ever visit Greenland. In the process of President Trump expressing his intention to 'buy' Greenland from Denmark, relations between the two nations have become extremely strained, with the U.S. President repeatedly suggesting the U.S. should control the mineral-rich territory of Denmark. It is highly unlikely that any two such allies, both NATO members, have ever collided over an issue where one coveted the territory of the other. 

Pituffik Space Base is pictured as Vance visits, on Friday in Greenland. (Jim Watson/The Associated Press)

President Trump alluded to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have begun to open in the North West Passage as a result of climate change melting sea ice. Access to the Passage -- part of Canadian territory -- will be yet another issue of aggravated presumption between the U.S. and Canada where at present, diplomacy argues that before embarking through the Passage, permission must be sought from Canada. Which feeds once again into President Trump's argument about U.S. 'security' in his wish to control Canada through annexing it into the U.S.

 

Canada, its government and its population are no more anxious to accommodate the American President's desires of territorial expansion than is Denmark/Greenland. The Pituffik Space Base owned and operated by the United States with Denmark's permission, is situated remotely, 1,100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Residents of Nuuk, Greenland's capital, about 1,500 kilometres south of Pituffik, voiced their concern with the U.S. delegation's visit underscoring their misgivings about the most powerful nation on earth coveting their Arctic island.

 

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen expressed his exasperation following the Vance trip to Greenland, stating that although Denmark can deal with criticism, there is a collegial, diplomatic way of speaking to a friendly democratic ally. Through a video he posted on social media, he declared he had a message "for our American friends." 

"Much is being said these days. Many accusations and many allegations have been made."

"And of course, we are open to criticism. But let me be completely honest, we do not appreciate the tone in which it's being delivered."

"This is not how you speak to your close allies."

Larrs Lokke Rasmussen

 

A Meeting of Like Minds

"I heard the surname, and I was like, 'Is this my family'?"

"I was shocked, and I was ashamed. Who wants to have a man like that as your grandfather? It was just tragic."
"[After reading the book [Commandant of Auschwitz], I felt so indebted by what my grandfather had done, I had this desire to do something."

"It's a meticulous record. He caused so much pain. It just broke my heart."

"People need to understand how inhumane, how horrible, how cold-hearted this was."

"The truth is painful, but silence is more dangerous." 

"What we're trying to do is move Holocaust remembrance from the head to the heart."

Kai Hoss, grandson of Rudolf Hoss, commandant of Auschwitz

Rudolf Höss with his wife and children in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Kai Höss)

"I realize how important it was for my grandparents to share not only the story, but also why it's important."

"[My grandfather used to tell me:] The Holocaust was the worst in people. But it was also the best in people."

"We need to be not only educating people but galvanizing them through these lessons. That's how we  honour the victims and the survivors; that's how we keep them alive."

Mike Igel, grandson of three Holocaust survivors

Mike Igel, interim chief executive officer and board chair emeritus of the Florida Holocaust Museum spoke of plans to meet with Rudolf Hoss's grandson: "He and I are running in the same lane. We're using these lessons and experiences as the fuel to combat antisemitism -- the very thing that led to all of this." Mr. Igel's family was on the receiving end of Mr. Hoss's family's involvement in murdering Europe's Jews.

 

"We are still combating on a daily basis", said 44-year-old Mike Igel whose father's parents were able to survive the Holocaust when non-Jewish Polish farmers, Michel and Katarzyna Gerula, hid four Igel family members, along with three members of another family, in their barn. The Gerulas had three young children of their own at the time. 

Eventually betrayed by a neighbour, the two Gerulas were executed by the Nazis when they were taken into custody, tortured for weeks, all the while refusing to reveal where the Jews under their care were hiding. They are recognized as "Righteous Among the Nation", at Yad Vashem, where their courage and memory is kept alive.

 

As for Kai Hoss, he is a non-denominational pastor in Stuttgart, Germany where he leads services for local English speakers and American service members stationed in the vicinity. He tells his story of stumbling upon the name of his grandfather in his history book when he was in fifth grade. His mother confirmed to him when he was 16 that the infamous Rudolf Hoss who was responsible for the operations in Auschwitz was his grandfather.

 

Kai Höss with his wife, Rahma, and their four children. (Courtesy of Kai Höss)

 

Decades on, he began to deliberately meet with Jews to speak of his family history. "It became clearer and clearer who they are and what my grandfather had done. I had several wonderful experiences where I met these people, and they're very gracious. There is a spirit of forgiveness and kindness", he said. He began speaking against antisemitism at schools, synagogues, churches and other venues.

 

More recently a meeting has been planned between himself and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, Mike Igel; a planned conversation relating to their family and historical legacies linked to their shared advocacy. The meeting, the Florida Holocaust Museum which described the talk as exploring "history's impact and the power of our choices" where they will speak together at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida.

 

According to the Anti-Defamation League, a sharp rise has been reported in antisemitic incidents since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, responsible for the ongoing war in Gaza to this date. An over 200 percent increase soared in antisemitic incidents in the United States the first year following October 7. A global survey by the ADL found that close to half of all people worldwide have antisemitic beliefs. 

Mike Igel at the Florida Holocaust Museum in front of a railroad boxcar — the same type used by Nazis to transport Jews to death camps. (The Florida Holocaust Museum)

 

Beijing's Designs...

"China is always willing to work together with the Canadian side, by following the principle of mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences."

"But China also opposes any country using China as a bargaining chip when it deals with other countries." 

"But of course, to reach such an agreement [free trade deal], both sides need to work in the same direction toward the same goal."

"When I was having conversations with Canadian friends from all walks of life, all sectors here in Canada, I heard a strong voice that China and Canada should strengthen co-operation."

"But unfortunately, at the same time, oftentimes we see some disrespect and smearing and attacking of China's core interests."

"China firmly supports Canada’s sovereignty and territorial integrity just as China supports that of all the other countries, but of course we hope this kind of respect is mutual."

China's Ambassador to Canada, Wang Di

"I hope that companies between our two countries can enjoy a transparent, open and non-discriminatory business environment," says China's Ambassador to Canada Di Wang. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/

China's core interests are wound up in its approach to world dominance in trade and achieving the status of a world power equal to that of the United States of America. Everything that Beijing does is calibrated to achieve those ends. And China is relentless in its self-actualizing mission of achieving its divinely inspired destiny as a super-hegemon. Its links throughout the world -- in North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, the Middle East are geared to creating a type of dependence beginning with trade and ending with dominating world markets in chemicals and organic matter critical to new-age technology.

 

China first ingratiates itself internationally, then demands respect and collaboration as it paternally guides countries which have been infiltrated by expatriate mainland Chinese through cultural indoctrination to instill admiration for the Peoples Republic of China. Its intelligence agents are everywhere, its social media sites dominate markets, its modern version of the Yellow Silk Road -- Belt and Road Initiative through investment and critical domestic infrastructure loans throughout the world have created dependencies inimical to the countries involved, becoming indebted beyond their ability to persevere.

 

And nothing seems to stop China's subterfuges and self-entitlements in maneuvering its operatives subtly into local culture and positions of social and academic, scientific and political advantage to Beijing, where infiltrated operatives deliver what they glean to their sponsors. Trade secrets, scientific advances, political positions, military situations, are all grist for the Beijing mill of conquest and control. As for respecting other countries' borders, Chinese interest in the Arctic to challenge Canada's North West Passage in the interests of vast mineral resources' acquisition is another story.

 

The government of Canada is warned by China's ambassador against using it as "bargaining chip" in its trade negotiations with the United States, even while holding out the carrot of pursuing a bilateral free trade agreement as long as Canada remove barriers to Chinese investment.Those barriers are there for a specific reason, that Canada has no interest in having its natural resources under the control of a foreign government which has on many occasions displayed its acquisition agenda to the detriment of Canada's national interests. 

Diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing which is at present Canada's second-largest trading partner have cooled considerably beginning when Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou had been detained in 2018 at the request of the U.S. through an extradition warrant at Vancouver's International Airport which led to China arresting two Canadian businessmen then in China, as retaliatory hostages in claims of espionage charged against the two. More recently four Canadians were sentenced to death on charges of drug smuggling in China. The dual-citizens were executed over their presumed 'drug crimes'.

 

In August, Canada announced its intention to match the U.S. higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, aluminum and steel, prompting China to enact retaliatory measures against Canadian canola, pork and seafood, impacting Western Canada. Chinese investment in critical mineral projects have been curbed in Canada, Huawei has been banned from fifth-generation wireless networks, and TikTok's parent, ByteDance Ltd. was ordered to close its Canadian subsidiary.

 

China, however, is consumed with its energy needs to power its growing technology functionality and Canada is more than willing to sell energy to China in the form of oil exports and liquefied natural gas.  As for claims by security intelligence officials in Canada that China, along with countries that include India and Russia, may attempt interference in the federal election now  underway in Canada, Mr. Wang characterized them as "completely unjustified, groundless accusations", despite ample evidence in the not-so-distant past that Beijing has done just that.

"At the core of the Chinese strategy is asymmetric interdependence that allows for its weaponization of trading relations … on other countries that cannot easily pivot away from a reliance on Chinese sources."

"By pre-emptively diversifying exports of easily substitutable products that are vulnerable to asymmetrical transactions, we could reduce the leverage that adversaries might otherwise seek to exploit."

University of Toronto political scientist Lynette Ong

China's Ambassador-designate to Canada Wang Di presents his credentials to Governor General Mary Simon during ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Gazans Waking to Hamas Terrorism Backlash

"Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed."

"[I joined the protest in Beit Lahiya] against the war, against Hamas, and the [Palestinian political] factions, against Israel and against the world's silence."

Abed Radwan

 

"[The protest began as an antiwar protest and swelled to over 2,000 with people chanting against Hamas]."

"It's the only party we can affect."

"Protests won't stop the [Israeli] occupation, but it can affect Hamas."

Ammar Hassan

 

"Our main goal is to bring the hostages home."

"If Hamas continues to refuse a deal, it will pay an increasingly heavy price".

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz 

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Beit Lahia, with many chanting anti-Hamas slogans  AFP

 

Out of a population estimated to be a million and a half people, thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza marched in another day of antiwar protests. Their demonstrations represent a rare display of public rage against their governing body, Hamas, that very political group whose charter calls for the elimination of the State of Israel, and of whom the vast preponderance of Gazans approved. An approval of both the terrorist group's violence against Jews, and their goal of destroying Israel. 

 

Presumably, the expectation among the population was that Hamas would go about their business of killing Jews and destroying the state expeditiously. Their shared aspiration unimaginably not drawing the civilian population of Gaza into the fray. A delusional fantasy given that in previous encounters between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces, Hamas deliberately placed its civilian population in harm's way for the distinct public relations purpose of portraying Israel as a heartless killer of Palestinians.

 

During the horrendous savagery of the October 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel, Palestinian civilians saw fit to join the thousands of Hamas operatives in their sadistic rape-and-murder spree. When Israeli hostages were  taken into Gaza, the civilian Palestinian population gave ample displays of Jew-hate as they celebrated the capture of an array of Jewish citizens from children to the elderly, wounded and dead, catatonic raped women, by ululating their pleasure and actively taunting and beating hostages and dead bodies.

Tuesday's protest was the largest anti-Hamas demonstration since war began following the 7 October attacks   AFP

So have Palestinians in Gaza discovered their mislaid humanity? Coming out in modest droves to rally against Hamas? The protests organized through social media platforms saw Hamas security forces responding to disperse the gatherings with forceful interventions to little avail. Had Palestinians responded by denying that Hamas terrorism reflected their values before the Israel Defense Forces invaded Gaza with the intention of destroying Hamas and rescuing the hostages, it might have seemed credible that they were intent on divorcing themselves from the violent terrorism they now are disowning.

 

It has taken 17 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas to impress upon Palestinians that violence begets violence and they could just as easily be on the receiving end as casualties as were the Jews, minus the ghoulish savagery of perpetrators intoxicated with hatred. In the town of Beit Lahiya some 3,000 people demonstrated, many chanting "the people want the fall of Hamas". What took so long?

 

Israeli hostages released by Hamas in Rafah and Nuseirat as part of ceasefire deal – video

Dozens of men in a Gaza City neighbourhood chanted "Out, out, out! Hamas get out!" In Jabaliya a similar protest took place. Speaking on condition of anonymity in fear of retribution, a protester explained the demonstration occurred because "everyone failed us". They chanted against Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Arab mediators. Despite no Hamas security at the protest, scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the protesting group.

 

Hamas is adamant, it will release the remaining captives only in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. It could have had all that with the exception of the Palestinian prisoners' release up until October 6, 2023. Had they only put down their arms, declared their intention to destroy Israel null and void  and begun instead to govern the Gaza Strip responsibly.

 

People hold hands at a memorial event marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in southern Israel, in Tel Aviv, Oct. 7, 2024. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images