Canadian Author and Activist
If you believe the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Conservatives, the Chinese own a backbench Liberal MP, which has been front page news recently. But no one mentions Washington’s possession of our military. According to a leak reportedly from CSIS, the Chinese consulate in Toronto assisted Han Dong win the Liberal party nomination for... Continue Reading →
The US is a far bigger threat to Canadian sovereignty and democracy than China but you’d never know it from following the dominant media. In recent days a CIA-linked firm got the federal government to stop research with a Chinese university, a State Department funded group convinced parliament to criticize China and the Pentagon’s panic... Continue Reading →
Recently there’s been significant attention devoted to purported foreign interference in Canadian politics. But there’s been little discussion of Ottawa’s far more significant interference abroad. The front page of Tuesday’s National Post noted: “Alarming escalation of espionage, foreign interference”. The story reported Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) analyst Noura Hayek saying foreign interference is one... Continue Reading →
Justin Trudeau is ramping up Canada’s confrontational posture with China. In following Washington’s lead he’s once again playing a part in a script written by those who want to maintain a US empire that dominates the planet. Recently CTV reported that “on numerous occasions” Chinese aircraft have intercepted a Canadian CP-140 Aurora patrolling near its... Continue Reading →
Ottawa is hellbent on supporting the US empire’s drive for global domination even if it increases the odds of war and undermines the cooperation required to overcome the climate crisis. Canada’s defence minister is boasting about the navy’s continued support for Washington’s bid to stoke tensions with China 8,000 kilometers from this country’s shores. On... Continue Reading →
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan combined with the head of the US military Mark Milley recently calling the Chinese military “noticeably more aggressive” has greatly ratcheted up tensions with the world’s most populous nation. Major Canadian media and think tanks are pressing for this country to join the conflict. They have... Continue Reading →
The anti-China panic sweeping Canadian politics has descended from tragedy into farce. A month ago I mocked Globe and Mail Report on Business columnist Eric Reguly for complaining about China-based Zijin Mining purchasing Neo Lithium. The nominally Canadian firm extracts lithium in Argentina. Reguly succeeded in stirring a national security scare about minerals extracted... Continue Reading →
Is the Canadian or Chinese military a greater threat to humanity? As the likelihood of military conflict with China grows it’s worth assessing the balance of power. This offers an indication of which parties are likely to be the primary belligerent force (because they would prevail in a conflict). When it comes to international bases... Continue Reading →
Right wing media see a conspiracy of “foreign influence” behind Chinese Canadians switching their vote from the Conservatives. Most of the mainstream media is engaging in Team Canada jingoism over the recent Canada-China prisoner exchange. It almost feels like militaristic propaganda against a wartime enemy. The Conservatives’ extreme position on China appears to have cost... Continue Reading →
The Canadian foreign policy status quo won Monday’s election. Of course, when it came to international and military affairs the vote had little upside. All the parties with a chance of winning seats in Parliament promote a corporate, military and Washington-centred foreign policy. But a Conservative victory would have made things worse. At least... Continue Reading →
At the English language election debate Conservative leader Erin O’Toole claimed Canada “led the fight against apartheid” in South Africa. The absurd statement has gone largely uncontested, reflecting a racist, mythologized, view of Canada’s place in the world. Does anyone believe that Canada was a stronger opponent of White minority rule in South Africa than... Continue Reading →
Erin O’Toole’s Conservative party is obsessed with China and to counter the Chinese “threat” they openly appeal to British colonial settler solidarity. The Conservatives’ election platform refers to “China” 31 times and “Chinese” 10 times. By comparison Saudi Arabia is not mentioned once, which is far more authoritarian at home and violent in its region.... Continue Reading →
Canadians truly committed to a rules-based, peaceful international order need voices in Parliament to speak up against militarism and the US empire. Instead we get a supposed ‘left’ party indistinguishable from the right. The recent flap over an award given out by the Halifax International Security Forum highlights how the NDP is jumping into... Continue Reading →
It’s curious how Globe and Mail reporters troubled by foreign influence over Canadian politics regularly turn to US-government-funded groups in this country. Are they aware of this irony? Or is their purported concern about foreign influence really about demonizing China? According to a recent article by Robert Fife and Steven Chase, the Trudeau government is... Continue Reading →
For those who support a truly just foreign policy comparing Canadian politicians’ reactions to protests in Hong Kong and the slightly more populous Haiti is instructive. It reveals the extent to which this country’s politicians are forced to align with the US Empire. Despite hundreds of thousands of Canadians having close ties with both Haiti... Continue Reading →
Paranoia, disregard for evidence and over-the-top rhetoric to encourage hate. And I’m not talking about Donald Trump’s Republicans. Progressive Canadian should counter a wave of McCarthyite Sinophobia sweeping this country’s politics. The over-the-top reaction to a recent “Zoom to Free Meng Wanzhou” highlights the issue. The event was labelled “Chinese Communist Party propaganda” in the House... Continue Reading →
Who is the useful idiot? According to National Post columnist John Ivison, I am. (“Useful idiots of the world unite - and they have, with 'Free Meng' event”) So are others who challenge the narrative that authoritarian China is such a danger to the US/Britain/Canada/Australia/New Zealand "Five Eyes" settler colonial states’ way of life that... Continue Reading →
In a recent commentary Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith suggested Green Party candidates’ path to victory was to question Canada’s “One China” policy. According to Smith, the candidates “missed an opportunity to win over the large number of Canadians who trace their roots back to Hong Kong and Taiwan and who are thoroughly disgusted with... Continue Reading →
Canada is locked in a hostage standoff with China that doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon. As relations with the world’s most populous nation deteriorate, it’s important to consider some history shaping the conflict and the impetus for the latest dispute. While most of the media present this conflict in a simplistic us-versus-them, good-guys-bad-guys... Continue Reading →
In recent weeks movements in different countries have toppled statues and put the police and other institutions upholding systemic racism on the defensive. But, amidst unprecedented protests against racism, there has been remarkably little interest in the white supremacist foreign policy alliance currently driving conflict with China. The “Five Eyes” intelligence arrangement has faced almost... Continue Reading →
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