Friday, July 07, 2017

Engaging China Poses Potential Risk to Canada's National Security: Charles Burton for Inside Policy (Macdonald-Laurier Institute)

http://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/engaging-china-poses-potential-risk-to-canadas-national-security-charles-burton-for-inside-policy/

"Closer ties with China carries worrisome implications for Canada’s national security, writes Charles Burton. The asymmetrical nature of the relationship suggests that China may leverage economic incentives to further its geopolitical regime goals.

This piece is part of The China Debates series for Inside Policy, with commissioned articles from leading world experts exploring different elements of China’s rise as a great power."





My Opinion Piece in the Globe and Mail: "Hong Kong, and the litany of Beijing’s betrayal"

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/hong-kong-and-the-litany-of-beijings-betrayal/article35513064/

"China nixed any notions about universal suffrage in Hong Kong, instead introducing pro-Party curriculum in schools, intimidating independent media and illegally relocating several Hong Kong residents deemed hostile to the Beijing regime to the mainland. This betrayal has been met with public outrage and massive protests in the streets, including one in 2014 that occupied some districts of downtown Hong Kong for three months.

More and more young Hong Kongers are now demanding genuine autonomy, if not outright independence, from China, renouncing their Mandarin-based Chinese-ness in favour of a localized Cantonese Hong Kong identity. When some of this new generation were recently democratically elected to the local legislature, China’s No. 3 state leader Zhang Dejiang warned that Hong Kong must be governed by “patriots who sincerely support China’s sovereignty.”

Politically, things are volatile and dangerously uncertain in Hong Kong, and it matters a lot to Canada. There are 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong, and half a million Canadians of Hong Kong origin reside in Canada. That’s a strong Canadian connection for a place with just seven million residents."