The Halifax Security Forum (HFX), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., has been pressured by the Canadian government to withdraw its sponsorship of a major award planned to be given to President Tsai Ing-wen. The HFX has yet to decide on its next move, creating a stalemate with the Justin Trudeau government, which the Canadian Conservative Party has criticized: “It’s disappointing to see the extent to which the Trudeau government will covertly support the Chinese Communist Party.
U.S. political news site Politico on the 11th, citing a number of sources familiar with the matter, said HFX decided late last year to award the “John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service” in the name of the late Republican U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona. The John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service, named for the late U.S. Senator John McCain, will be awarded to Tsai. McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, who is also a member of the forum’s board of directors, endorsed the decision to award the prize to Tsai.
The report noted that this is the third time HFX has presented the McCain Award. The first was given in 2018 to the people of Lesbos, Greece, for their efforts to save refugees in the Middle East and Africa. The 2nd will be awarded in 2019 to civil disobedients in Hong Kong. HFX planned to give a 3rd award to Tsai Ing-wen for her courage in resisting Chinese pressure. However, when Canadian officials learned of the award, they explicitly told the organizers that the Canadian government would withdraw its support and financial assistance to HFX if the award was given to Tsai.
The report went on to say that the matter was not reported by the media and that the impasse continues. Robin Shepherd, vice president of HFX, said in a statement that the Halifax Forum has not yet announced the winner of the 2020 John McCann Public Service Leadership Award and will do so at an appropriate time due to the Wuhan pneumonia pandemic. She is also a strong advocate for global democracy. She is undoubtedly the ideal candidate for this award. At this time, we have no further announcements to make.”
Todd Lane, a spokesman for Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, gave an ambiguous response to the news of whether the Trudeau government had threatened to withdraw from the forum over the organizers’ plans to present the award to Tsai, responding via email, “The Canadian government has provided financial support through a contribution agreement with the Halifax International Security Forum The Canadian government has provided financial support through a contribution agreement with the Halifax International Security Forum.” The letter continued, “While financial support is provided, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are not involved in the planning of the forum.”
In response, officials from Taiwan’s representative offices in Washington and Ottawa declined to comment. Also on the event, Canadian Conservative leader Erin O’Toole criticized the Liberal government led by Trudeau: “It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see the extent to which the Trudeau government will covertly support the Chinese Communist Party.” He questioned in an email, “This begs the question of what else this government is doing in secret that we don’t know about to support their friends in China.”
HFX hosts an annual security forum in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, Canada, with a wide range of government officials, military representatives, academics and business people from countries around the world. The Government of Canada is a major sponsor of the forum, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is also a sponsoring partner. Last year, more than 300 participants from more than 80 democracies around the world attended the forum, including such dignitaries as then-U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg.
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