My Report on Canada-China Relations In the Eye of the Beholder

Click here for Colin Freeze's article published on page A3 of the Globe and Mail this morning entitled "Canada called on to increase spying on China: diplomats poor at interpreting country for Ottawa, report says, suggesting intelligence agencies step up" which is about my recently released report A Reassessment of Canada's Interests in China. Click here for comments on this Globe and Mail report.

Personally I would not characterize my report as: "much of the study's focus is on China's unconstrained spying and Canada's relative naiveté." But different readers focus on different aspects of the document. The subheadings of my report include the following:
Trade and Investment
Immigration and Consular Matters
Development and Human Rights
Political and Economic Relations
Taiwan, Tibet, Uyghur, Mongolian Issues and Falungong Issues
Public Diplomacy

My hope is that people will read the full report (or at least the "Executive Summary," but reading the whole thing would be best).

Press Release for "A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy"

http://www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org/download/aboutus/media/pressrelea/090224burt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s approach to China is woefully inadequate

Canadian diplomats not prepared for service in China, lacking basic language skills

TORONTO, ON – February 24, 2009 – Canada’s foreign policy toward China has been falling short of expectations for more than a decade and across a wide range of criteria, states a new paper released today by the Canadian International Council (CIC).

A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy, written by Charles Burton, examines Canada’s existing China programming and concludes that it has become less relevant to Chinese conditions and less effective in fulfilling Canada’s interest in China.

Dr. Burton, a CIC research associate and Brock University political scientist who has been seconded to work at Canada’s Embassy in Beijing on two separate occasions, argues that Canada’s prosperity in the global trading environment is at risk if it doesn’t improve its engagement with China, its second largest trading partner, and a country that increasingly plays a more prominent role in the international arena.

Dr. Burton recommends the Government of Canada diversify its engagement with China and directly engage policymakers in the Chinese Government and Communist Party whose decisions have implications for Canada’s interests, rather than focusing their efforts on institutions and channels that are not influential.

“China requires a comprehensive engagement strategy,” says Dr. Burton. “The focus of our engagement should extend beyond formal relationships with the Chinese government through conventional diplomatic channels. It is central to Canada’s interests to energetically and proactively engage China at the central, provincial and local levels.”

Effective and comprehensive engagement strategy in China is vital to Canada’s prosperity, but smarter engagement with China demands a Canadian foreign affairs establishment having the requisite language and cultural skills and creativity in policy implementation.

“Nearly all Canadian diplomats posted in China lack any serious Chinese language skills. For example, most cannot read the local daily newspaper or understand the nightly news on television. Also, the current rotation system of diplomatic postings results in personnel spending only three years in China before being transferred elsewhere,” points out Dr. Burton.“ These circumstances seriously inhibit trade promotion at the time when Canada continues to lose market share in China.”

Canada’s policy towards China is in fact so out of date that it is now of little interest to the Chinese, Dr. Burton added. In his recommendations, Dr. Burton outlines several strategies: engagement with a wider variety of actors in official China that includes the Communist Party, developing a program of incentives for civil servants with Chinese language skills to encourage them to focus their careers on China-related work, clearly articulating Canada’s strategy for improving and promoting access to the Chinese market for Canadian business, as well as facing China with maturity, enthusiasm, energy and creativity.

Dr. Charles Burton is one of four respected academics chosen earlier this year by the CIC to contribute new perspectives in vital areas of Canadian foreign policy leading to further discussion and debate.

For more information about this paper or the CIC Fellows, please visit: www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Neve Peric
Director of Media Relations
Tel: (519) 885-2444, ext. 390
Mobile: (519) 590-2626
nperic@canadianinternationalcouncil.org

The Canadian International Council (CIC) is a non-partisan, nationwide council established to strengthen Canada’s role in international affairs. With 13 branches nationwide, part of the CIIA national branch network, CIC seeks to advance research, discussion and debate on international issues by supporting a Canadian foreign policy network that crosses academic disciplines, policy areas, and economic sectors. The CIC features a privately funded fellowship program, supported by a network of issue-specific working groups. Carefully selected CIC fellows focus on important foreign policy issues, working out of universities and research institutions across the country. The CIC was founded in 2007 by Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM (Research In Motion).

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http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Le-Conseil-International-Du-Canada-953759.html

Le Conseil international du Canada

Feb 24, 2009 13:22 ET

L'approche du Canada à l'égard de la Chine est franchement inadéquate

Les diplomates canadiens sont mal préparés à travailler en Chine et maîtrisent insuffisamment la langue du pays

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - 24 fév. 2009) - Depuis plus d'une décennie, la politique étrangère du Canada à l'égard de la Chine a cessé de répondre aux attentes établies selon de nombreux critères, soutient une étude publiée aujourd'hui par le Conseil international du Canada (CIC).

Dans cette étude intitulée A Reassessment of Canada's Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada's China Policy, Charles Burton examine notre stratégie actuelle à l'endroit de la Chine et juge qu'elle est moins adaptée que jamais à la conjoncture chinoise et à la défense des intérêts canadiens dans ce pays.

Associé de recherche du CIC et politologue à l'Université Brock, Charles Burton a été détaché à deux reprises auprès de l'ambassade du Canada à Pékin. Selon lui, la prospérité de notre pays dans l'environnement commercial mondial sera menacée tant que nous ne raffermirons pas nos liens avec la Chine, deuxième partenaire commercial du Canada et pays de plus en plus dominant sur l'échiquier international.

Plutôt que de centrer nos efforts sur les institutions et réseaux de moindre influence, M. Burton recommande au gouvernement canadien de diversifier ses engagements avec la Chine et de nouer des liens directs avec les stratèges du gouvernement et du Parti communiste chinois qui exercent une réelle influence sur les dossiers liés aux intérêts canadiens.

"Nous devons adopter face à la Chine une stratégie d'engagement globale qui déborde le cadre des relations officielles entretenues dans les réseaux diplomatiques traditionnels, précise-t-il. Il est d'une importance capitale pour nos intérêts de cultiver des liens fructueux et dynamiques avec les autorités centrales, provinciales et locales de la Chine."

Pour appliquer intelligemment cette stratégie globale indispensable à notre prospérité, le personnel canadien des affaires étrangères doit posséder les aptitudes linguistiques et culturelles nécessaires à sa mise en oeuvre créative.

"Très peu de diplomates canadiens affectés en Chine ont une connaissance suffisante de la langue chinoise, déplore le professeur Burton. Par exemple, la plupart ne peuvent lire les quotidiens locaux ni comprendre les informations télévisées. De plus, notre système de rotation des affectations diplomatiques prévoit le transfert de nos effectifs après seulement trois années de présence en Chine. Ce qui restreint énormément nos efforts de promotion commerciale, alors même que le Canada perd chaque jour des parts du marché chinois."

En fait, la politique canadienne est si obsolète qu'elle suscite aujourd'hui très peu d'intérêt chez les Chinois, observe M. Burton. Parmi ses recommandations, il propos notamment l'adoption des mesures suivantes : élargissement de l'engagement canadien à un vaste éventail de décideurs chinois, y compris au sein du Parti communiste ; élaboration d'un programme d'incitations destiné aux fonctionnaires canadiens qui maîtrisent la langue chinoise afin de les encourager à centrer leur carrière sur les dossiers relatifs à la Chine ; énonciation claire d'une stratégie favorisant l'accès des entreprises canadiennes au marché chinois ; et adoption à l'égard de la Chine d'une approche réfléchie, enthousiaste, dynamique et créative.

Charles Burton est l'un des quatre universitaires de premier plan à qui le CIC a proposé en 2008 de définir de nouvelles perspectives dans les domaines clés de la politique étrangère du Canada en vue d'enrichir le débat public.

Pour de plus amples renseignements sur cette étude et les associés de recherche du CIC, prière de visiter le www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org.

Le Conseil international du Canada (CIC) est un organisme national non partisan créé en vue de renforcer le rôle du Canada dans les affaires internationales. Totalisant au pays 13 sections intégrées au réseau national de l'ICAI, le CIC vise à favoriser la recherche, le dialogue et le débat sur les grands enjeux mondiaux en appuyant un réseau d'étude de la politique étrangère canadienne qui traverse les disciplines, orientations politiques et secteurs économiques. Le CIC a créé un programme de bourses de recherche financé par le secteur privé et soutenu par un réseau de groupes de travail spécialisés. Rigoureusement sélectionnés, ses membres se consacrent à d'importantes questions de politique étrangère en lien avec des universités et des établissements de recherche de tout le pays. Le CIC a été fondé en 2007 par Jim Balsillie, coprésident et chef de la direction de RIM (Research In Motion).

For more information, please contact

RENSEIGNEMENTS :
Le Conseil international du Canada (CIC)
Neve Peric, Relations avec les médias
(519) 885-2444, poste 390
Courriel : nperic@canadianinternationalcouncil.org
Site Web : www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org

Cli

A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy

http://www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org/research/canadianfo/areassessm

Download Charles Burton's A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy


Executive Summary

• Because Canada is continuing to lose market share in China, the Government of Canada should clearly articulate its strategy for improving and promoting access to the Chinese market for Canadian business. This strategy should be focused on the distinctive characteristics of the Chinese market and business culture, and Canada’s comparative advantage in that market vis-à-vis our competitors. Trade officials should be deployed with much better pro-active coordination between the Federal Trade Commissioners Service, provincial government trade promotions agencies, the Export Development Corporation and the Canada-China Business Council.
• The Government of Canada should phase out the CIDA program in China. Instead, Canada should engage in good governance, democratic development and human rights programming in China through the arms-length Canada Foundation for Democracy proposed by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. Stakeholder groups in Canada based on ethnic ties to China or with mandates to promote human rights in China should be better deployed to collaborate with Government to achieve the aims of the Canada Foundation for Democracy in its China programming. In addition, the Canadian Government and private sector should jointly engage in environmental sustainability programming though the Trade Section of the Canadian Embassy to China.
• The Government should reform its human resources procedures to ensure assignment of personnel with the requisite qualifications to undertake China-related positions. The effectiveness of the divisions of DFAIT, CSIS and DND responsible for Canada’s relations with China is severely inhibited due to allocation of personnel without China-specific expertise to positions that demand this expertise. This demands requiring that civil servants assigned to certain China-related positions demonstrate appropriate Chinese language skills as measured by standardized Chinese language testing as a prerequisite to deployment. Personnel who have acquired Chinaspecific expertise should be significantly rewarded through an incentives scheme designed to encourage Canadian civil servants to undertake careers with a sustained China focus.
• The Government of Canada should diversify its engagement of China. Canada should be directly engaging policymakers in the Chinese Government and Communist Party whose decisions have implications for Canada’s interests in China on an ongoing basis. The current focus on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation offices of Chinese line ministries should be expanded to a more comprehensive engagement of policymaking and decision making agencies in the Chinese system.
• Reporting on China by DFAIT and the Intelligence Assessment Staff of the Privy Council Office as well as the Communications Security Establishment Canada and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service should be refocused away from general assessments of Chinese affairs and should instead focus reporting on practical matters directly related to Canada’s interests. The relevance to Canada and quality of these reports should be subject to periodic external review to ensure that they are fulfilling the strategic mandate of these agencies.
• The Government of Canada should pursue engagement of Chinese ministries on an ongoing basis at Director-General to Director-General and Assistant Deputy Minister to Assistant Deputy Minister level. “Strategic Partnership” at the Deputy-Minister level is not feasible due to economic asymmetry between Canada and China. Due to power asymmetry between Canada and China, high-level Canadian Government engagement of the Government of China on political and social issues through “quiet diplomacy” such as the Canada-China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue has not proven effective. While it is certainly in the Canadian interest to raise human rights concerns in all Canadian Government interactions with Chinese leaders, more focused and targeted programming to encourage enhanced Chinese compliance with its commitments to the UN Human Rights Covenants should replace the previous moribund Human Rights Dialogue approach.
• The Government of Canada should strengthen the China-specific expertise of CSIS counter-espionage officers. Canada should also be more proactive in responding to Canadians of Chinese origin, and to Chinese nationals A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy temporarily resident in Canada, including ethnic Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians who complain of harassment and intimidation by Chinese security agents and Chinese diplomats in Canada.
• The Government of Canada should solicit Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian diaspora communities’ views, as well the views of their co-nationals still living in China, on the design and implications of Canadian Government supported programming in their native lands. This consultation will better ensure that the Government is fully attuned to ethnic sensitivities in its China-focused programming. Such consultation would not imply that the Government of Canada endorses Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian independentist claims to rightful sovereignty over these territories, nor that the Canadian Government intends to challenge the legitimacy of Chinese rule in these areas.
• The proportion of Chinese citizens working as support staff in the Consular sections of the Canadian Embassy and Consulates in China should be reduced. There should be corresponding augmentation of numbers of Canadabased staff with Chinese language skills and knowledge of Chinese police, prison, security agencies and the related Chinese Communist Party institutions.

Link to NGO Coalition Letter to Prime Minister Harper about Guantanamo Uyghurs and Huseyin Celil

http://web.ncf.ca/aq159/NGO%20Coalition%20Letter%20on%20Uyghurs%20and%20H%20Celil.pdf

For a report that indicates that the Chinese Government does not want Canada to accept any of the Uyghurs currently in prison at Guantanamo click here.