Ivison is right on Taiwan

Re: Backing Taiwan may help Canada trump China, John Ivison, July 13

Amidst frosty Canada-China relations, political columnist John Ivison has rightly argued that Taiwan represents a good way for Canada to apply leverage in its dispute with China.

China has detained two Canadians and banned various Canadian agricultural products under the pretext of health. Clearly, this is China’s retaliation for the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. As Ivison writes, it is time for Canada engage with Taiwan both as leverage against China and to create a win-win scenario for Canada and Taiwan.

Taiwanese president Tsai’s recent trip to and US$2.2 billion arms deal with the U.S. underlined the importance of this island nation to the West. Unfortunately, in an effort to appease Beijing, Canada maintains a restrictive interpretation of its “One China Policy” — even though Ottawa has never accepted China’s position on the matter, choosing only to “take note of” Beijing’s position.

Falsely claimed by Beijing as part of Chinese territory, Taiwan is a sensitive issue for the People’s Republic. China blocks the self-ruled island from participating in most multilateral forums and threatens countries that voice support for Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is actively seeking to expand its formal engagement and economic ties with Canada. Thus, it would be pragmatic for Ottawa to endorse Taiwan’s membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and sign a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Such partnerships will help Canada diversify its exports, reducing dependence on China, while signalling Canada’s resolve in the current diplomatic crisis.

Also, Taiwan has played a significant role in the domain of civil aviation. Taipei, for example, hosted 1.6 million flights in 2017. Canada should support Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming 40th General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal. Furthermore, to increase formal engagement with Taiwan, the government should be willing to invite high-level Taiwanese officials to Ottawa and send cabinet ministers to Taipei.

In our dealings with China, Canada has been largely reactive and indeed naive. Engaging with Taiwan will show that Canada can take a principled stand to support a real partner, while demonstrating to Beijing that we won’t be pushed around.

Irfan Yar, counterterrorism and foreign affairs analyst, and research intern at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Meng Wanzhou