An end to Canada’s independent foreign policy
The Liberal government’s brief flirtation with an independent foreign policy died quietly this week. It was marked by two back-to-back events.
First was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision not to oppose a controversial House of Commons motion accusing China of genocide.
Second was Trudeau’s online meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, a meeting that reaffirmed Canada’s position as America’s most loyal vassal.
Passage of the genocide motion Monday put paid to years of effort by successive Canadian governments to woo China. The task had never been easy. China’s brand of communist capitalism wasn’t always understandable to Canadian business.
But Ottawa persevered, hopeful that in the end it could build an economic relationship with the Asian superpower that, among other things, would allow Canada to lessen its dependence on the U.S.
Jean Chrétien launched so-called Team Canada missions to further the China trade. After a brief crisis of conscience over whether to pay obeisance to the “almighty dollar,” Stephen Harper followed suit.
And so did Trudeau. When he became prime minister, China was treated as a top priority.
To most of China’s fans in the business world, the country’s dodgy human rights record was not accorded much importance.
Sure, China was a dictatorship. But so were other countries that Canada happily did business with.
As long as everyone was making money, who cared if Beijing locked up a dissident or two?
That laissez-faire approach changed as the Uyghur issue took hold.
The Uyghurs are an ethnic minority centred in China’s Xinjiang region. For years, Uyghur separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency against the state.
That insurgency heated up in 2014, after militants said to be Uyghur terrorists attacked a train station, killing 35 and wounding 143.
The government responded with draconian measures. Uyghurs were rounded up and jailed in so-called re-education camps. Assault, sexual assault and forced sterilization were said to be rampant.
It’s against this backdrop that Monday’s Commons vote was held.
In an effort to avoid condemning China publicly, Trudeau and his ministers abstained on whether to label China genocidal.
But everyone knew what that abstention meant. Canada had admitted that it could no longer ignore allegations of China’s human rights abuses. Rhetorically at least, Ottawa had to act tough. The China gambit had proved fatally flawed. To whom else could Canada turn?
Enter Joe Biden. His virtual meeting with Trudeau Tuesday signalled that the Americans are willing to forgive and forget.
In particular, they will forgive us for our dalliance with Beijing — provided that we never do it again.
In their communique issued after Tuesday’s meeting, Biden and Trudeau agreed to “more closely align (their) approaches to China.”
Specifically, Trudeau agreed to join the Americans in fighting “China’s coercive and unfair economic practices, national security challenges and human rights abuses.”
For his part, Biden promised to work for the release of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, held by the Chinese on alleged national security grounds. But Biden very carefully didn’t say what he might do.
The rest of the communique was like a comfortable pair of old slippers — familiar if somewhat tatty.
Biden promised Canada a special place in America’s heart but didn’t say, for instance, whether he would grant it an exemption from his “Buy American” rules.
Canada reiterated its agreement to boost defence spending to two per cent of GDP, but didn’t say when it might do that.
Both sides agreed to “modernize” the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), but didn’t say what that might mean.
Both laid out measures they said would counter climate change.
But the main point of the exercise was to emphasize that relations between Canada and the U.S. are back to normal.
The Americans will run things and Canada will do what it can to help. Wherever possible, Canada will be granted special status within the American sphere of influence.
In return, we will be Washington’s loyal Janissaries, committed to protecting American interests in the wider world.
And we certainly won’t play footsie with the Chinese any more.