Canada has a China problem

Now is the time for Canada to push back with strong words and decisive action against increasing belligerence from Xi Jinping’s China.

Indeed, at this month’s opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, in response to a Chinese official’s claim that Canada was bullying China in its treatment of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, newly appointed Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae responded sharply. Rae told the official Canada “shall never forget” the inhumane and arbitrary treatment of the “two Michaels,” Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

“If you think that insulting us, or insulting my country or insulting anyone is going to help in resolving this situation, you are sadly mistaken,” Rae said.

This was a dramatic change in tone on Canada-China relations and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. Ambassador Rae’s intervention has been followed in recent days by a more defiant tone from Prime Minister Trudeau.

During a press conference last week to recognize the 50th anniversary of Canada-China diplomatic ties, Trudeau stated, “we will remain absolutely committed to working with our allies to ensure that China’s approach of coercive diplomacy, its arbitrary detention of two Canadian citizens, alongside other citizens of other countries around the world, is not viewed as a successful tactic by them.”

The prime minister’s comments were met with a formal rebuke from Beijing, which echoed its complaints on the floor of the UN and the long-standing narrative coming from the Communist Party of China that Canada, or any other country, calling out the Chinese government’s human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Tibet or against the Uighurs is strictly off limits and an interference in China’s domestic affairs.

Let’s be clear, the idea that a nation’s borders create a shield of impunity against being held accountable for its human rights abuses is categorically false and contrary to the important lessons we draw from the Holocaust and other tragic moments in our history. Human rights are universal and it is the obligation of Canada, and all countries, to defend these rights and seek accountability for abuses, wherever and whenever they occur.

Now is the time for much more than a change in tone. It is a time for action. As the chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee during the last Parliament, I was a strong proponent of the use of Canada’s Magnitsky Sanctions to hold gross human rights abusers to account.

This critically important legislative tool has been applied to Russian, Venezuelan, Myanmarese and most recently Belarusian officials, who are now subject to financial and other restrictions in Canada. It is time for the Canadian government to add Communist Party of China officials to this list.

While this will be seen as an escalation by the Chinese government, it will also make clear that Canada is entering a new phase in our dealings with China and we are prepared to back up our strong words with equally strong action.

But Canada must not go it alone. We must coalesce and find support within a group of like-minded allies, who together can hold the line against pressure and intimidation from Beijing. With the UN and traditional multilateral organizations unable or unwilling to act, now is the time to build new forwardlooking alliances.

Earlier this summer, I joined fellow “CANZUK” foreign affairs chairs from Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. in denouncing the Communist Party of China’s punitive actions in Hong Kong and calling for the UN to act in defence of Hong Kongers’ democratic rights and freedoms.

The silence from the UN’s hallowed halls in New York has been deafening. A growing number of our allies understand the critical need to push back against China’s heavy handedness in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and beyond, and they are also well aware that the next “two Michaels” could just as easily be their own citizens, facing arbitrary detentions and potentially much worse.

Canada has a China problem. It is time to respond with strong words and decisive action.