China is terrorizing the savannah
Do we Canadians not have enough to fret about during this pandemic?
Now, what, I have to buy a Rosetta Stone to learn Mandarin just in case China invades because it’s had it up to here with our prime minister? It was only a matter of time until Justin Trudeau angered a world power. I was just hoping it might be the Sock Factory or Teen Vogue.
But, no. After months of simmering bad blood, the relationship between China and Canada is now approaching end-stage Kimye. The red light on the Bilateral Tension Gauge always starts to flash ominously when diplomats blurt out stuff that is, you know, wildly undiplomatic.
Take Li Yang, China’s consulgeneral in Rio de Janeiro. He posted a photo of Trudeau this week and tweeted: “Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US. Spendthrift!!!”
OK. Since our guy is running up the debt like a crackhead with a stolen Visa, I won’t challenge “spendthrift,” even if the triple-exclamation is a bit melodramatic. Profligate!!!
But … boy? And … running dog? I mean … wow.
You know those nature docs in which a lion ambushes gazelles at a drinking hole on the savannah and gets one to separate from the pack while giving deadly chase? Yang’s tweet comes just days after the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
So why is Yang separating Canada from the pack? Why not insult Joe Biden, Charles Michel or Boris Johnson? Why must Trudeau be the weak gazelle in this National Geo snuff film?
I don’t know if “boy” in China is just ageist claptrap or if it has the same racist overtones as when levelled at a Black man in the American Deep South. But “running dog” is definitely a hardcore insult in China. It’s as if I accused a fellow Canadian of loving the bland sludge they pass off as coffee at Tim Hortons: “You’re nothing but a running dog of the doubledouble!”
In his book, “Mao’s New World: Political Culture in the Early People’s Republic,” scholar Chang-tai Hung writes: “Foes of the revolution, in Mao’s view, lurked in every dark corner and sinned in broad daylight, and he denounced them as ‘the running dogs of imperialism’ …”
People, this is getting out of control. Last month, China overreacted and threw a hissy fit over T-shirts worn by Canadian diplomats in Wuhan. Now the superpower is turning the “Blame Canada” playbook into a Mandarin buffet of dubious grievances, roaring like a hungry lion as we run for our lives. Enough with the bullying, China. Enough with trying to be the apex predator.
First of all, by insulting our PM, you are stealing more intellectual property because Canadians have trademarked the exclusive right to slag our leader. If an Albertan with separatist desires who is alienated by years of Ottawa neglect wants to call Trudeau a “toddler” or a “running monkey,” I’ll let that stand. I myself have been critical of JT over his obsession with identity politics and PR-driven leadership and past misadventures with blackface.
Trying to admire Trudeau is like trying to cheer on a juggler who keeps dropping a lemon.
But I’ll be damned if I can see how he “ruined” our relationship with China.
Is Trudeau the one engaged in industrial espionage? Is he sending intelligence agents to infiltrate Chinese companies and universities? Did he slap an arbitrary ban on canola? Did he smash democracy in Hong Kong? Is he still stonewalling experts after a global pandemic emerged within his borders? Did he commit any state-sponsored kidnapping that’s remotely similar to the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who remain behind bars with no evidence of wrongdoing beyond the fact China is resorting to “hostage diplomacy” as transparent retaliation for the lawful detention of Meng Wanzhou?
Psst. Hey, China. It’s called an extradition treaty. Take it up with the U.S.
I suppose there is some comfort in knowing Joe Biden is now in the White House. The previous occupant would have sold us out for a burger and fries. But Biden is up to his squinting eyes with his own domestic snafus. He doesn’t really have time to be protecting a kid brother as the schoolyard bully threatens a beatdown behind the portables after the end-of-day bell.
What Canada, and the free world, needs right now is strength in numbers and an unflinching realization that China is an existential threat to the values we cherish. Here’s the litmus test: I triple-dare Li Yang to even mildly criticize Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Let’s see if you don’t disappear before the next Carnival in Rio.
But until all the gazelles in the free world do not turn tail, Canada is going to see more escalating hostility. China is powerful. China is emboldened. If it won’t hesitate to flex its jaws and devour Hollywood or H&M or the NBA, we need to see this as what it is: strategic intimidation.
China keeps openly challenging those who believe in democracy.
That’s a lot of running dogs. That’s a lot of boys and girls with resolve.
Justin Trudeau may have his faults. But he’s not the one terrorizing the savannah.