Recent events illustrate the geopolitics of political prisoners and are a lesson for us all about how the system favours certain ways of looking at the world.
Marwan Barghouti has been locked up for nearly a quarter century. One of 10 000+ Palestinians kidnapped by occupation forces, Barghouti has been labeled the “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” by supporters and the “world’s most important prisoner” by the Economist. The elected Palestinian official was in the news recently because far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sought to humiliate him. A Haaretz headline noted, “Ben-Gvir Spoke to Palestinian Leader Barghouti as a Master Speaks to His Slave”.
Revealingly, I couldn’t find any mention of Barghouti by the NDP. Conversely, the NDP has pushed aggressively for the release of a billionaire who met with Donald Trump’s previous Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton during the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests. Jimmy Lai called for foreign sanctions on Hong Kong and Mainland China officials. While his imprisonment seems to represent state overreach, Lai is openly treasonous. The proponent of extreme pro-capitalist and bible of neoliberalism’s Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom told CNN, “We in Hong Kong are fighting for the shared values of the US against China. We are fighting their war in the enemy camp.”
NDP MPs Jenny Kwan and Heather McPherson have made numerous statements about Lai. Kwan called on Ottawa to grant him honorary Canadian citizenship. The NDP MPs have participated in multiple press conferences regarding Lai. McPherson and Kwan are so passionate about Lai’s plight they attended a June press conference led by Irwin Cotler who is a leading advocate of the genocidal apartheid state imprisoning Barghouti.
Contrasting the NDP’s reaction to Barghouti and Lai highlights the geopolitics of human rights. The NDP has followed the US empire in stoking conflict with China, which is a moral and (probably) electoral mistake.
China’s economy continues to grow rapidly. Over the past 25 years it’s increased about fivefold and despite US tariffs grew by 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025.
In response to Canada following Washington in imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs and various other points of tension, China recently introduced 75.8% tariffs on Canadian grown canola. Amidst Trump’s attacks against Canada, a major economic dispute with China is a disaster. (While I’m critical of Canada’s anti-China policy, for ecological reasons I’m ambivalent about significant trade with any faraway country.)
The NDP supported Ottawa imposing tariffs on Chinese EVs. They’ve also backed Canada’s ramped up military push against China. As part of that strategy, Ottawa recently signed an agreement with Taiwan to sell it Dark Vessel Detection system. A dual use military technology accord with what China (and sort of Canada) considers a breakaway province will anger Beijing. In recent months Canada has participated in major US-Philippines and US-Australia military exercises targeting China. As part of the Liberals three-year-old Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada has dispatched more naval vessels and intelligence aircraft to assist the US in containing China.
As NDP foreign critic, McPherson traveled to Taiwan in 2023 and formally backed the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The party has also whipped up the foreign (China) interference panic, which has largely collapsed.
Last week the Commissioner of Elections Canada report confirmed there was no evidence election law was breached in Han Dong’s nomination as Liberal candidate. The National Post article on the matter notes that the commissioner previously concluded no rules were broken in the other much hyped case of Richmond Conservative MP Kenny Chiu either. Two federal investigations into foreign interreference came to similar conclusions.
McPherson and other NDP representatives made dozens of comments hyping foreign interference. In what he should apologize for, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh even said Han Dong shouldn’t be allowed back into Liberal caucus long after the initial (absurd) allegations were disproven.
Despite being heavily responsible for whipping up the foreign interference panic, the Globe pointed out the obvious last month in “Let’s Free Ourselves of US and forge closer ties with China”. The Report on Business commentary noted, “The greatest threat to Canadian sovereignty isn’t Chinese interference, it’s our servility to a U.S. that increasingly treats us as a vassal.”
While the media has hyped the ‘bad China’ foreign interference brouhaha, there’s some indication that supporting the US empire’s anti-China policy is an electoral mistake for the NDP. Recent Pew Research Center data suggests one-third of Canadians have favourable views of China. It skews heavily young with 50% of 18–34-year-olds holding that view. Even the Globe and Mail admitted that public perception of China has improved significantly in response to Donald Trump.
At about 5% of the national population, the Chinese community represents a significant share of voters in multiple ridings. While views vary based upon generation, being from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other factors, a large segment of the community opposes the over-the-top attacks against China. In part because it spills into anti-Chinese sentiment within Canada.
There’s division in the NDP caucus over China. Interim leader Don Davies doesn’t seem to share the position of Kwan and McPherson while former MP Niki Ashton offered up a speech to the 2020 “Free Meng Wanzhou” event we organized.
I stood with the Chinese Family Services of Greater Montreal when it was attacked by the RCMP and media. I’ve repeatedly interviewed Chinese-Canadian activist and author William Deere and criticized Canadian, including NDP, policy towards China.
The NDP should stop supporting the US empire’s anti-China policy. It’s wrong and a questionable electoral strategy.
To assist or learn more about my bid to lead the NDP check out yvesforndpleader.ca
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