On China, Chairman Trudeau needs to sound more like warrior O’Toole

One wonders what’s going through the minds of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig as they rot in the Chinese prison system.

In case you’ve forgotten, Spavor and Kovrig were detained by China in December 2018 on charges of “endangering state security” in apparent retaliation for Canada’s detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. Canada was responding to a U.S. request — Meng is charged with helping Iran to evade sanctions — but the Chinese have chosen to punish Canada for respecting its international treaties. And while Meng quickly stumped up $10 million for bail and is afforded the luxury of her prime

Vancouver residence to wait out the extradition process, Spavor and Kovrig are barely being given a pot to piss in, let alone a lawyer to consult. It’s been months since a Canadian official has seen them in the flesh and family members have been reduced to receiving the occasional letter from their missing loved ones.

It’s rancid. It boils the blood. Unless, that is, you’re the Canadian government, which doesn’t seem all that bothered, really. Sure, Global Affairs Canada insists the pair remain its “absolute priority” and is thankful that “many countries in the world” have expressed their support for Canada’s position. Heck, Justin Trudeau has even raised the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. For those unfamiliar with diplomacy, this is called the “bare minimum.”

And while a softly-softly approach is sometimes the best way to get what you want, by now it should be clear that China is — and let me pause here to find the correct British term — taking the piss. Instead of reaching for the vinegar in return, our federal government keeps finding more honey to try to keep China sweet.

Got a bad case of the coronavirus? Here, have our stockpiled PPE supplies. Not quite straight about the severity of said coronavirus outbreak? No worries, we all screw up sometimes. Threaten a Canadian think-tank for having the temerity to call your COVID-19 response a cover-up? We won’t say a word. Send us and our allies bum protective gear from unregulated production lines? We won’t even complain as we tweet out our thanks. Even better, we’ll wheel out our health minister to tout the bang-up job you’re not doing. Heck, she’ll even defend you over death counts you’ve already conceded. And we haven’t slammed the door on Huawei yet, remember?

Canada’s appeasement of China is not yet at Chamberlain levels, but it’s boarding the flight from Munich. And most of the Canadian

business establishment is on board singing the government’s praises. Again, it’s rancid.

One wishes Trudeau would get as upset about Spavor and Kovrig as he does about churches receiving Canada Summer Jobs grant funding. Or show as much spine as he did blocking the pro-life Conservative MP Rachael Harder from her nominated position as chair of the Commons’ Status of Women Committee.

But no, Trudeau won’t ever dare say “boo” to the Chinese ghost haunting this country.

Thank God, then, for Conservative leadership candidate Erin O’Toole (and, to a lesser degree, Peter MacKay). O’Toole might not have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card handy, but he at least knows Canada’s on a hostile Monopoly board. Half of the challenge is realizing that China is part of the problem, not any solution. The 40-year bet that welcoming China into the global system would make China more like the world has gone bad. Spectacularly bad.

China doesn’t want to be our friend. Not now, and possibly not ever, at least not while the dictator Xi is around. The relationship must now be managed with both skepticism and care.

And while O’Toole’s “new cold war” language and aggressive posture might appear saucy to some, it has the benefit of sounding like common sense to all Canadians who don’t make their living sucking at the Chinese teat. Instead of banging on about assault rifles, every Conservative candidate should beat Trudeau like a drum for his weakness on China. They should also speak up in full-throated support of Canada’s real friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

If Kovrig and Spavor are to remain jailed, Canada might as well hold aloft the banner of moral clarity.

Andrew MacDougall is a London-based communications consultant and ex-director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper.