A flag-raising ceremony to celebrate China’s National Day was scheduled to be held in the Ontario legislature, but was cancelled amidst protests. The federal Conservative Party of Canada has again criticized the Trudeau government in Parliament for its misguided policies towards China and called for a shift away from economic dependence on China.
The Parliament of Ontario, Canada’s largest province, was scheduled to hold a Chinese flag-raising ceremony on the afternoon of September 30 to celebrate China’s National Day. When the news came to light, there was an outcry, criticizing China for bullying Canada and harming the human rights of many world citizens in a ridiculous flag-raising ceremony. Under pressure, the flag-raising event was temporarily cancelled.
Jackie Gordon, the Ontario legislature’s sergrant-at-arms, said the day before that it was at the request of the Federation of Chinese Groups in Toronto, saying it had nothing to do with politics. He said, “Foreign relations are under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and the focus of the provincial legislature is on provincial politics and focusing on Ontario’s diversity.”
But federal Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong criticized the Ontario legislature’s approach. He said, “Two Canadian citizens are still imprisoned in China for no reason, and no Canadian government agency at any level should fly the Chinese flag. Because when a government flies a foreign flag, it represents a certain signal.”
Given the tensions between Canada and China, the City of Ottawa had earlier stated, “The Chinese flag will not be flown outside City Hall in solidarity with the two Canadians arbitrarily detained in a Chinese prison.”
Mr. Shen, who burned the Chinese flag at an event held in front of the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver recently to show solidarity with Hong Kong and the two Canadians, said angrily when he heard that Ontario was going to raise the national flag: “Whoever raises the Chinese flag, I will burn it there. He added that October 1 is not a national day, but a national mourning day: “The Communist Party of China has gained power and eroded the country, so the country continues to decline and fall, and is going to die out step by step. There are still some people who are willing to deal with the devil for money, for financial gain, and such people are willing to sacrifice human rights in Canada, there is too much evil in this world.”
In the halls of Canada’s Parliament, federal Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole responded to Prime Minister Trudeau’s policy address. In his 50-minute speech, he strongly criticized Trudeau’s China policy as being out of touch with reality and the high cost of engaging with China for the sake of trade, which often involves copyright infringement, counterfeiting, and Internet theft. He criticized China for its horrific ethnic cleansing of the Uighurs in Xinjiang and for destroying one-country-two-systems and liberal democracy in Hong Kong.
Will we continue to ignore China’s re-education camps in Xinjiang for the sake of trade and exports? Why can’t we open up new markets and demonstrate to the Chinese Communist Party that values must not be sold? We must help Canadian companies expand new market opportunities and move away from their dependence on China.”
O’Toole said that Canada, which values free trade, is more willing to see international trade and economic exchanges take place in an ethical and law-abiding manner, so Canada should deepen its cooperation with India and Taiwan in the Asia-Pacific market.
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