Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris this week to discuss cooperation between Canada and the United States on international political and economic issues, and Harris made a clear commitment to “do everything we can to rescue the two Canadian Macs” – a statement that This statement immediately made headlines in several major Canadian media outlets.
President Joe Biden and new Secretary of State John Blinken said on various occasions that the United States would return to multilateralism, would repair relations with traditional allies and would “lead the world by example” – a change in U.S. policy that Canada generally felt relieved about. A sigh of relief.
Canada is a close ally of the United States, and from an economic perspective, from a national security perspective, we have a lot of similarities,” said Professor Gorden Houlden, director of the China Institute at the University of Calgary in Western Canada, in an interview with the Voice of America. So, U.S. policy toward the Chinese Communist Party will have a huge impact on Canada.”
Jack Harris, a federal member of the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) and vice chair of the Canada-China Relations Select Committee (CACN), analyzed the situation, saying, “Overall, Biden is pursuing the same multilateralist policies that Canada has always supported. And, his policies are more predictable.”
However, Dr. Zachary Paikin, a researcher at the Canadian Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, has a slightly different view. He argues that Canadians should realize that Biden’s rise to power does not mean “a return to the familiar norm” and that the world is changing, and so is the United States. The world is changing, and so is the United States. With the United States increasingly competing with the Chinese Communist Party, the United States is becoming more protectionist, challenging the future of multilateralism, and Canada needs to be conscious of protecting its interests.
“I hope the Biden Administration steps in to save both Macs.”
The first foreign leader Biden called after taking office was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And many Canadians are concerned about whether Trudeau asked Biden directly for help in releasing the two Macs being held by China.
In an interview with the Voice of America, federal lawmaker Jack Harris said the two Macs are being held by China as a direct result of Canada’s arrest of Meng at the request of the United States. He said, “I understand that there are some behind-the-scenes negotiations going on, and I hope that the Biden administration will step in to help.”
On Wednesday, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Millman also confirmed that “serious communications” were underway with the Chinese side and that she had received a commitment from the U.S. to help secure the release of the two Macs.
The Meng and the two Mack cases in late 2018 sent Canada-China relations to a 50-year low, with the Communist Party imposing various economic sanctions on Canada and stalling high-level communication between the two countries.
This latest development certainly brings hope for a resolution.
The case of Meng’s extradition has been analyzed in detail by the Canadian media. The U.S. court issued a warrant for Meng’s arrest in late August 2018, and in the following three months, Meng had appeared in nine countries with which the U.S. had an extradition agreement, including the United Kingdom, Japan, France and so on. But in the end, the U.S. justice department waited until early December to issue a formal request to its northern neighbor to detain Meng. One important reason for this is that Canada and the U.S. have a long history of extradition agreements that have built trust and cooperation mechanisms. Canada, on the other hand, has merely complied with its agreement with the United States.
According to Professor Hou Bingdong’s speculation, if the U.S. and Meng’s legal team reach some kind of agreement, or if the U.S. decides to focus more on investigating huawei rather than Meng as an individual, it could bring a decisive turn of events.
Working Together to Address the Chinese Communist Challenge
The new U.S. Secretary of State John Brecklin describes the Chinese Communist Party as posing “the most significant challenge” to the United States.
Jack Harris, vice chair of the Canadian Parliamentary Select Committee on Canada-China Relations, used the same term when describing the relationship between Canada and China. He said, “It should be a challenge. The Chinese Communist Party presents a challenge to the world on human rights issues.”
He also acknowledged directly that the Canadian government wants to rescue the two Macs and also wants to put pressure on the Chinese Communist Party on human rights issues, including topics such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong, but that Canada’s unilateral power is not enough and we need the power of international cooperation, especially from the United States.
After China detained the two Macs, the Canadian government set up a special commission on Canada-China relations in December 2019 to study mainly the challenges in the relationship between the two countries, and in addition to the issue of the two Macs, hearings were held on Chinese espionage in Canada, threats against dissidents, Hong Kong issues, Xinjiang issues, etc.
It is clear that Canada, the United States, and other Western countries face similar challenges when it comes to the subject of the Chinese Communist Party.
President Biden can continue to work with loyal U.S. allies and friends, something that has been lacking in U.S. policy over the past four years,” said Professor Hou Bingdong. This would make NATO stronger and give the West the possibility of coherence in policy and leadership.”
Recently, the Canadian government has made a succession of new rules on accepting immigrants from Hong Kong and banning the products of forced labor by the Chinese Communist Party. And next, the Canadian government will need to face decisions on how to help the 300,000 Hong Kong residents who hold Canadian passports, whether it needs to revise the refugee application process for Hong Kong people, and whether to formally recognize China’s policies in Xinjiang as genocide.
In Canada, public opinion against China is also a force that no political party can ignore. Polls over the past six months show that Canadians hold a favorable opinion of the Chinese Communist Party to the tune of 14%, and that 45% of those polled say Canada should reduce trade with the Chinese Communist Party.
Professor Hou Bingdong believes that although Biden has different views and approaches to many things from his predecessor, being tough on the CCP is now a bipartisan consensus in Washington, and this will be reflected in his foreign policy.
Protecting Canadian Interests
Canada shares the world’s longest land border with the U.S. In 2019, Canada’s trade with the U.S. accounted for 75.4 percent of total trade, while trade with the Chinese Communist Party accounted for only 3.9 percent of Canada’s total trade.
However, there have also been various trade disputes over everything from cork to dairy products throughout Canada’s years of economic cooperation with the United States. At the beginning of his term, Biden signed a presidential executive order to cancel the oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada’s western province, to Texas, which upset the oil-producing provinces of central and western Canada. At the same Time, Biden’s economic policy emphasis on “Buy American” has made Canadians worry about the U.S. economic trend toward protectionism.
Dr. Zach Patrick’s analysis is that Canada will only get a brief respite with Biden in office. Canada must be proactive and find a more appropriate overall Eurasia-Pacific strategy.
He said, “Canada needs to diversify its economic partners more and expand into global markets, rather than relying solely on its traditional trading pillar partners.”
According to Professor Hou Bingdong, Canada’s trade with China is a very small percentage compared to Australia’s situation, which at a critical time might have saved Canada from being under the economic control of the Chinese Communist Party.
As for the cancellation of the construction of the Chistone pipeline, he believes that the project also has a lot of opposition among Canadians. On the issue of focusing on climate change and developing clean energy, Trudeau and the Biden government are in agreement.
Federal MP Jack Harris said that despite the huge differences with the Chinese Communist Party, Canada does not want a Cold War-style isolation. We need to work with the Chinese Communist Party to solve the problems facing the world, such as climate change and dealing with the pandemic, but we need to change the way we trade with the Communist Party and we need the Communist Party to respect international rules and human rights.
We need to help the CCP realize that compliance with international rules is good for all parties, including China,” he said. If everyone follows the rules, cooperation can continue even if differences arise.”
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