Aadil Brar, Diplomat: Canada's Pivot to China Hits a Snag
Justin Trudeau’s call for a progressive trade deal falls flat in China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a special trip to Beijing last week to initiate trade discussions with China, which is Canada’s second-largest trading partner. His trip to China received unprecedented attention and aroused interest among experts because it was expected to open the first free trade negotiations between China and a leader from a G7 country, Canada.
The United States’ departure from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the recent U.S.-Canada falling out over NAFTA discussions have put trading giants such as China and Canada in a rather unique position to reinvigorate trade across the Asia-Pacific region. Besides trade and investment, Canadians of Chinese ancestry are a strong presence in Canada, which is evidenced by the fact that Mandarin and Cantonese are the most spoken languages in Canada after the official languages of English and French.
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WNU Editor: It has been a week since Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau returned from China trying to push a free trade deal .... and I have avoided the story until I read the above commentary from The Diplomat, and after talking to a friend of mine who still works in China's FO. I do not know who was involved in the preparations and negotiations for this trip (my guess is that it was the Canadian embassy in Beijing, the Canadian ambassador to China The Honourable John McCallum .... plus a few in Canada's Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office), but as foreign trips go .... this should be used as an example on how not to do it when it comes to China. Aadil Brar does a very good job in the above post in explaining what went wrong, but he leaves out what was the internal Chinese reaction to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's demands when he pushed his progressive social agenda on the Chinese. I am going to provide that. Quoting my Chinese friend who I talked to this evening .... it may play well in Canada having a young Canadian Prime Minister in his forties lecturing Chinese men in their sixties on why his progressive agenda should be adopted by them .... but in China this is a no go. Not surprising .... Prime Minister Trudeau went home with nothing, coupled with the realization that if he wants to do business with China .... it will be on their terms, not his.
My suggestion to the Prime Minister is that he should pivot back to the TTP. That trade treaty has been set up to be independent from Chinese influence, and it will open markets that are eager to purchase Canadian resources and expertise. As for the Chinese .... Ottawa should focus on the growing trade deficit with China (it is currently $30 billion/year .... but growing), and start to make demands on Beijing to bring this down. As for Chinese investment .... my recommendation is to maintain the current severe restrictions on what the Chinese can buy. Beijing restricts foreign investment in their country, we should do the same.
1 comment:
WNU Editor, I agree completely. Further, I would suggest that Mr. Trudeau reassess his readiness to normalize the legal and extradition arrangements with Communist China. They have no predilection to treat an individual with anywhere near western established human and civil standards. Is it right to,send people back to such treatment in a politicized Chinese legal system?
A lowest common denominator somewhere considerably above Chinese abysmal standard is the minimum Trudeau should accept, otherwise no extraditions or other legal standard relaxation. To do less is a form of appeasement and a form of continued economic subservience by Canada to China.
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