Setting aside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s preferred option of pretending that it isn’t even happening, there are what you could call two schools of thought in and around Ottawa about how to respond to what all sides agree is the deepest rupture in Canada-China relations since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 30 years ago.
An important dissenter from that view is Senator Thanh Hai Ngo, a 72-year-old human rights activist appointed by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2012. Senator Ngo is among a minority in the Upper Chamber whose view of the current state of play reflects the second school of thought. Ngo has fought for tough responses to the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of minority groups, Beijing’s regional belligerence, and the Chinese state’s intrusions in Canada. Over the past three years, Ngo has put 29 questions to the government about China’s human rights abuses, its infiltration of Canadian society and its harassment and intimidation of Chinese-Canadians and Tibetan-Canadians.
“I think Canada should go a different way. I don’t think we should negotiate at the moment because they’re not going to budge at all. “They don’t even pick up the phone.” Another pair of Canadians convicted on drug offences in China have recently had their sentences conspicuously elevated to the death penalty. “What did we do? Nothing.”
The Senate’s small “official” Liberal caucus is headed by Senator Joseph Day, the chairman of the Canada-China Legislative Association, which regularly brings together Canadian parliamentarians with China’s rubber-stamp People’s Political Consultative Conference. Even though Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi won’t even return Chrystia Freeland’s telephone calls, Day and a small group of legislative association parliamentarians were on a guided tour of Chinese cities just this past week.
That would send the right message to China. Time to stop sucking up to them. And introduce restrictions on imports from China as well.
how i fully agree !!! get rid of the chinese....they are all stealing from canadians ! the party i mean
Theft of intellectual property.
Stand up to what end? If the actions result in continued lost trade and Canadian hardship, then who wins? China has been involved in human rights issues,spying etc for decades.
TerryGlavin Hurray for the Senator. He should keep pushing. Harder and his cronies need to wake up. Great idea to close Confucius Centres—they are a tool of PRC subversion. How can school boards support while PRC holding our citizens hostage?