As the epidemic worsens in Canada, there is a resurgence of blame and criticism of China. According to a new Canadian poll, nearly 70% of the people surveyed do not trust the actions taken by the Chinese government in the early stages of the epidemic and want an independent investigation into the origin of the new coronavirus, and more than 80% want the Canadian government to deal with China in a tough manner.
The new coronavirus epidemic in Canada has reached its second peak of severity, with an average of more than 6,000 infections per day, and the total number of infections approaching the 400,000 mark. Public pressure continues to mount for Ottawa to hold China accountable for its role in the early stages of the new coronavirus epidemic. According to a poll conducted by the Canadian Asia Pacific Foundation, 67% of respondents believe that the Chinese government did not act responsibly in the early stages of the outbreak; 68% want an independent investigation into the origin of the new coronavirus.
Lillian Chiu, a professor of nursing at Langley College in Canada, hopes that Ottawa will listen to the people, because if pressure is not brought to bear on China to review and improve, the next time there will be similar attempts to deceive the world: “If you can use public opinion to blame China, that’s a good thing. We are saved! If we don’t review this, they’re going to make the same mistakes again when these kinds of things happen in the future.”
Federal Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, in Parliament, strongly criticized Prime Minister Trudeau for his serious missteps in response to the epidemic. He said that the Trudeau government was willing to double down on its cooperation with China, which had long been questioned about its transparency during the epidemic. As a result, the National Research Council of Canada also worked with the Chinese pharmaceutical company CanSino on a vaccine. But the Chinese government continued to block the export of vaccine samples to Canada, and only after months of delays did it announce that the collaboration had ended. As a result, it was only in August that urgent orders were placed from companies like Pfizer and Modena, leaving Canada significantly behind in the global race for access to vaccines: ” The Trudeau government put all its eggs in the Chinese basket, and only after CanSino broke its contract did it turn to vaccine contracts with other European and American pharmaceutical companies. The Trudeau government even shut down the Pandemic Task Force early last year, preferring to trust publicly available data from China rather than using studies by Canadian experts, leaving us without an outbreak alert system.”
The Asia Pacific Foundation conducts a biennial poll on perceptions of Asia-Pacific markets, and this year’s poll clearly shows a serious mistrust of China among Canadians: nearly 60 percent still approve of Chinese investment in 2018, leaving only 35 percent in favour of Chinese investment activity this year. Many question China’s true intentions in investing in Canada, especially in the high-tech and medical-biochemical sectors, and worry that China is using the investment as a pretext to steal intellectual property rights; 55% say their opinion of China has been worsened by the epidemic.
On the second anniversary of Meng’s arrest, 83% of Canadians expect the government to take a tough stance against China, defend Canadian values of the rule of law, human rights, and democracy, and do everything possible to save the two Canadians – Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor – who are in Chinese custody.
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