Standing up to China

Re: What price for standing up to China? Shakir Chambers, Oct. 17 The assertion that “Canada is dependent on China” is at best debatable and at worse a false premise. The two examples mentioned as evidence, i.e. agricultural product exports and Chinese student fees, are pseudo-dependencies as Canada can sell its agricultural products elsewhere and seek students from other foreign countries. Canada is resilient enough to survive and prosper without selling agricultural products to China and hosting its students. What physical goods does Canada need to import from China? Unlike the reverse, I cannot think of any items that qualify. If there are any, it is almost a certainty that they can be sourced elsewhere in the world. So, if Canada stands up, a few dollars are lost in the short term. Yielding to Chinese economic coercion should never be a consideration and the CCP should forcibly be told that any interference in Canada's internal affairs will be strongly condemned and result in a commensurate response based on the principle of reciprocity.

Duncan MacAlasdair, Toronto

It is, indeed, time for Canada to get serious and live up to that tired trope, “punching above our weight,” by adopting a tougher stance toward China (as) a retaliatory measure for that country's aggression and gross human rights violations, not to mention its bullying economic tactics.

In global affairs, it's time we led with our mores. As Canadians, paying the price is not difficult. We've got more backbone than the Chinese government gives us credit for. We should shut down our embassy and other offices in China, expel China's ambassador from Canada and shut down all its other offices, and let's just see what happens.

T.L. Pedneault-Peasland, Victoria, B.C.